New Research in Nature Medicine: Soft Robotic Apparel to Avert Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Disease

Freezing of gait (FoG) is a profoundly disruptive gait disturbance in Parkinson’s disease, causing unintended stops while walking. Therapies for FoG reveal modest and transient effects, resulting in a lack of effective treatments.

In a paper published in Nature Medicine authored by our physical therapy researchers Terry Ellis, Teresa Baker, Franchino Porciuncula, and Nicholas Wendel with their Harvard partners at the Wyss Institute, researchers show proof of concept that FoG can be averted using soft robotic apparel that augments hip flexion. The wearable garment uses cable-driven actuators and sensors, generating assistive moments in concert with biological muscles.

Read the paper in Nature Medicine.