Joon Faii Ong from London – Gyroscopic Glove for Patients with Parkinson’s Tremors

Hand tremors are one of the major symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which is rhythmic involuntary movements of fingers and hands. This is sometimes very minor, but this may be debilitating for some patients. For example, eating food using their hands may be difficult due to the tremors, and doing other activities with their hands also may be embarrassing.

There was no permanent cure for this situation happening the old age, but now the gyroscopic glove called GyroGear has come up as a solution for those who suffer from hand tremors due to conditions like essential tremors or Parkinson’s tremors, etc. A London-based startup has created this wearable device, which helps to steady a person’s hand and make it easier for them to do their daily tasks like eating, writing, etc.

GyroGear was founded by Joon Faii Ong from London, who wasinspired by seeing an elderly patient at the hospital who was working having difficulty eating her foot with hand tremors. While they were trying to clean her up as she spilled the food all over her dress, the medical students at the Imperial College of medicine started to discuss solutions for this condition.

Even though the product design is made, Ong says that there is a lot more to be done. The glove is still under research and development and has not yet been fully tested on outside patients in real-time settings. The manufacturers are planning to publish the findings in peer-review journals and identify the further scope of improvement in the same. They are also hoping to produce this product at an industrial scale by the end of this year. Now, the company is in the process of trying to raise funds from potential investors to set up the production unit.

About GyroGlove

This glove is a mechanical wearable device, whereas the actual power of the glove lies in the bronze disc attached to the back portion of the hand. This is attached properly, and the glove weighs only as much as the nickel roll attached to it. These discs spin to about 20000 rotations each minute and produce a steadying impact. This force generated through battery power will help to put the hand in molasses. Even though moving it is not that easy, it can benefit highly by naturally filtering out the shaking effect.

GyroGear, the parent company producing GyroGlove, is aiming to cut down the effect of tremors by about 70%. GyroGlove has the ability to stay steady by itself and thereby reduce the impact of hand tremors. The product is still under clinical testing, and research done in London showed that it helped reduce the tremors by 90%.

Other efforts are also going on in terms of finding mechanical solutions to help with tremors. For example, another startup, Lift Labs, which Google acquired, devised a mechanical device with a vibrating spoon to counteract the impact of hand tremors and help patients eat without shaking. This product has shown some promising effects in patients with mild tremors, but the GyroGlove by Joon Faii Ong from London is now proving to be more effective in severe hand tremor cases.