Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is often associated with a vast list of gait-associated disabilities, for which there is still a limited pharmacological/surgical treatment efficacy. Therefore, alternative approaches have emerged as vibrotactile biofeedback systems (VBS). This review aims to focus on the technologies supporting VBS and identify their effects on improving gait-associated disabilities by verifying how VBS were applied and validated with end-users. It is expected to furnish guidance to researchers looking to enhance the effectiveness of future vibrotactile cueing systems. The use of vibrotactile cues has proved to be relevant and attractive, as positive results have been obtained in patients’ gait performance, suitability in any environment, and easy adherence. There seems to be a preference in developing VBS to mitigate freezing of gait, to improve balance, to overcome the risk of fall, and a prevalent use to apply miniaturized wearable actuators and sensors. Most studies implemented a biofeedback loop able to provide rescue strategies during or after the detection of a gait-associated disability. However, there is a need of more clinical evidence and inclusion of experimental sessions to evaluate if the biofeedback was effectively integrated into the patients’ motor system.

Graphical Abstract

中文翻译：

---

帕金森病中的振动触觉生物反馈装置：叙述性评论

摘要

帕金森病 (PD) 通常与大量与步态相关的残疾有关，但药物/手术治疗效果仍然有限。因此，替代方法已经出现，如振动触觉生物反馈系统 (VBS)。本综述旨在通过验证 VBS 是如何应用和与最终用户验证的，重点关注支持 VBS 的技术，并确定它们对改善步态相关残疾的影响。预计它将为希望提高未来振动触觉提示系统有效性的研究人员提供指导。事实证明，振动触觉提示的使用具有相关性和吸引力，因为在患者的步态表现、在任何环境中的适用性和易依从性方面都取得了积极的成果。似乎倾向于开发 VBS 以减轻步态冻结，改善平衡，克服跌倒的风险，并普遍用于应用微型可穿戴执行器和传感器。大多数研究实施了一个生物反馈回路，能够在检测到步态相关的残疾期间或之后提供救援策略。然而，需要更多的临床证据和实验环节来评估生物反馈是否有效地整合到患者的运动系统中。

图形概要