Making the Invisible Visible: Why We’re Taking on Parkinson’s

I’ll never forget the insight that cost me $8,000 to uncover. 

Several years into my daughter’s cerebral palsy journey, a therapist recommended a device to support what was believed to be foot drop. But when she wore it, it didn’t work – and I wanted to understand why.

We used surface electromyography (sEMG) sensors to study her walking, and it was a revelation. For the first time, we could actually see what was happening with her gait, and it wasn’t foot drop at all. 

It was an expensive “aha” moment, but a powerful one. It made something clear that has guided our work ever since: if you can’t measure it, you can’t impact it. And for far too long, mobility care has been built on assumptions, not data – often at a real cost to patients and their families.

Why Parkinson’s needs a different approach to understanding mobility

That insight has fueled the development of the Neural Sleeve, from its earliest iterations to today. Now, it’s pushing us into new – and important – terrain, as we begin recruiting for our first research study involving people with Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s is the world’s fastest-growing neurological condition, affecting about 1 million people in the United States, and 10 million globally. It deeply impacts so many families, including mine, and our interest in exploring how the Neural Sleeve might support people with Parkinson’s dates back to our earliest days as a company. 

When we started Cionic, functional electrical stimulation (FES) had not yet been used with Parkinson’s patients, so we started with conditions that already incorporated FES into treatment and rehab programs, like multiple sclerosis and stroke recovery. But we never lost sight of the opportunity and unmet need in supporting people with Parkinson’s.

Early results: reduction in gait variability and increase in gait speed

Last year, after millions of hours of real-world use across 20+ neurological conditions, we conducted a small proof-of-concept study to explore the impact of the Neural Sleeve and MultiStim, our new stimulation paradigm, on people with Parkinson’s. We were encouraged by the results of this n=8 feasibility study, which showed a promising first use orthotic effect in reducing gait variability and increasing gait speed. The below video from one of our participants shows an increase in straight line speed and improvement in turning.

Now, we’re moving into the second phase and are actively recruiting people to participate in a study that aims to understand the safety and usability of the Neural Sleeve for people with Parkinson’s disease. In partnership with Adapt Functional Movement Center, we’re recruiting patients in San Francisco and Carlsbad, CA. As part of this study, we’ll be sending patients home with the sleeve for 12 weeks to monitor changes to their gait and balance.

Studying a dynamic condition with continuous data 

Videos like the one above encourage us that the Neural Sleeve may be able to support people with Parkinson’s in ways similar to what we see across our existing user community — while also helping uncover deeper insights into a condition defined by variability. Given Parkinson’s hallmark unpredictability, we believe the Neural Sleeve’s ability to enable continuous data collection and analysis could be especially powerful. Rather than relying on episodic snapshots from patient visits, wearable neurotechnology like the Neural Sleeve could provide clinicians with a more continuous view of patients’ experiences, helping care teams and families better understand and manage a condition with highly dynamic symptoms.

In its current form, the Neural Sleeve is well-equipped to monitor and analyze gait and balance for Parkinson’s patients. But recognizing that Parkinson’s can cause a specific set of movement symptoms, we also plan to incorporate additional sensors in our office trials. For example, we’ll add sensors to the trunk, so that we can assess trunk lean, which is a common symptom of Parkinson’s and related to a shuffling gait.

What’s next: recruiting for our Parkinson’s research study

We’re just at the beginning of our Parkinson’s efforts, but encouraged about what’s ahead. If you or someone you know is interested in our research study – or in learning more – please reach out to us at trials@cionic.com.