AR headset proven effective digital tool for improving posture in individuals with Parkinson’s disease

An augmented-reality headset is an efficient digital tool for improving posture and gait in individuals with Parkinson’s disease, in accordance with a recent Cleveland Clinic trial. Findings were published in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

Augmented reality, or AR, allows users to finish digital programs projected into the world around them. The “Dual-task augmented Reality Treatment” (DART) uses the Microsoft HoloLens2 to run patients through dual-task training (DTT), a series of tasks designed to have interaction the brain and body concurrently.

Activities are designed to counter Parkinson’s disease’s effect on the parts of the brain that control mental and physical tasks. Take into consideration walking while listening to an audiobook or talking while shopping on the food market.

DTT helps address the shortage of balance and stability that may result in falls or difficulty moving, says Jay Alberts, PhD, Center for Neurological Restoration, and the study’s first creator. This therapy, although effective, is not widely used due to the time and resources it takes to measure patient progress and personalize a program, amongst other limitations.

As an alternative of a human therapist, the DART program uses a digital avatar named Donna, named after Dr. Alberts’s mother. The user puts on the AR headset and sees Donna of their line of sight. The user then hears instructions through the headset, which tracks their movements and responses. Donna guides the exercises and demonstrates movements. The headset collects data for clinicians to review and use to design future sessions.

A digital platform that completes a few of these tasks, right down to collecting tiny alterations to someone’s stride, might help us standardize and implement DTT. The trial shows that using an AR headset or physical therapist directed DTT produces similar improvements in gait and postural stability.”

Jay Alberts, PhD, Study First Creator and Center for Neurological Restoration, Cleveland Clinic

Training can improve posture and stability and forestall falls or “freezing.” Some examples of DTT activities include:

• Stepping forward once you hear a fair number, stepping back on an odd number
• Waving when a light-weight is green, crouching when it’s red
• Remembering a series of numbers while walking forward or navigating a digital obstacle course

DART can create greater than 230 combos of DTT activities. The clinical trial of just below 50 people compared results from participants in sessions led by an in-person therapist and people using the DART platform. Each groups showed comparable, clinically significant improvement after the therapy. Retention was also high for each groups, addressing one other potential concern with implementing the therapy.

DART isn’t meant to take the place of a physical therapist, but to function technology to enable more widespread use of DTT, Dr. Alberts says.

“People diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease often balance physical therapy, recent medications and specialist appointments with their lives and families, which is overwhelming,” he says. “Our goal is to make DTT more accessible, removing another obstacle for patients who wish to improve their every day lives.”