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Glove to help control tremors

Shared by Ana Duarte on 2016-06-08 18:05

About the solution

The patient was losing a lot of weight and the doctors didn’t know why. But when he saw her, he figured it out – She had a lot of difficulties feeding herself. “Her hand was shaking and the soup was being spilled”, the student explained.

Two years after this episode, Faii came up with a solution – Gyroglove - a small, lightweight stability device that fits on the back of the hand attached to a minimalist harness. It locks easily in place, and integrates intelligent functionality.

The technology behind this device consists of gyroscopes - Spinning discs used in cutting edge aerospace technology, but no different from children’s toy tops. Gyroscopes conserve angular momentum to stay upright in any plane of motion. These spinning discs thus counter any input of force instantaneously and proportionally.

After evaluating the use of elastic bands, weights, springs, hydraulics, and even soft robotics, the student settled on this solution, one that he recognized from childhood toys. “Mechanical gyroscopes are like spinning tops: they always try to stay upright by conserving angular momentum,” he said. “My idea was to use gyroscopes to instantaneously and proportionally resist a person’s hand movement, thereby dampening any tremors in the wearer’s hand.”

The device has been tested in patients, and the results are very encouraging.

The student founded his own company GyroGlove, and made it to the finals of OneStart, the world’s largest biotech business competition, in 2014.

The product has not been launched yet, but the price will be between $550 to $850.

More info: http://gyrogear.co/

Adapted from: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/545456/hope-in-a-glove-for-parkinsons...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f10-g8qzMug

This solution shall not include mention to the use of drugs, chemicals or biologicals (including food); invasive devices; offensive, commercial or inherently dangerous content. This solution was not medically validated. Proceed with caution! If you have any doubts, please consult with a health professional.

DISCLAIMER: This story was written by someone who is not the author of the solution, therefore please be advised that, although it was written with the utmost respect for the innovation and the innovator, there can be some incorrect statements. If you find any errors please contact the patient Innovation team via info@patient-innovation.com

About the author

Faii Ong, born in Singapore, in 1990, is a Medicine Student who invented GyroGlove, a glove designed to help Parkinson’s disease patients to control and reduce their tremores. Faii was inspired by a 103 year old Parkinson’s patient that he saw at a cafeteria.

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