Device Stimulates Nerve to Manage Parkinson’s Symptoms, Boost Balance

Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease have been a challenge to control, as existing drugs and implantable neurostimulators often don’t work as well as was hoped. But scientists at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, with some help from NASA, may have found a way to better treat the disease.

The Swedish scientists have developed and are testing a new device that electrically stimulates the vestibular system to help improve balance and manage other symptoms of Parkinson’s. The device essentially delivers a targeted electric noise signal via electrodes to a nerve in the ear responsible for balance.

The technology was first tested on rats and proved effective in improving the animals’ balance and motor function. The device has since been tested on 10 Parkinson’s patients who were not aware of when the signal was being delivered. The new results are promising, with patients having improved balance and overall reduction of symptoms, according to the scientists.

The research team is already preparing the next generation of the device that will be considerably smaller and can be easily carried in a pocket. It will be tested in a longer study to determine whether the therapeutic effects continue to last and whether there’s any noticeable unwanted side effects.

The study abstract in the journal Brain Stimulation claims patients did not detect when SVS [stochastic vestibular stimulation] was active, but SVS increased nausea after LDOPA in two patients. “Mixed model analysis demonstrated that SVS improved balance corrections after a backward perturbation and shortened the postural response time. In static posturography there was significant interaction between effects of SVS, medication and proprioceptive input (standing on foam vs. on hard support) and SVS decreased the total sway-path with eyes closed and off medication,” the study stated. “As expected, LDOPA improved the UPDRS-III scores and MT. There was an interaction between the effect of SVS and LDOPA on UPDRS-III partly because of reduced UPDRS-III scores with SVS in the off-medication state.”

The patients were studied in both medicated and unmedicated states. On one day, the patients received an active noise stimulation and on another day inactive treatment, blinded to which day the current was active. The experiments show that the active noise stimulation improved both the patients’ balance and the combined symptoms.

“The effect on balance was particularly apparent when the patients were in the unmedicated state, which is very positive,” said associate professor and study leader Filip Bergquist, who teaches at the Sahlgrenska Academy. “If the long-term treatment improves the patients’ walking, balance and symptom variations, we could in the next five years develop the noise stimulation technique and introduce it as a new treatment.”

The study was conducted in cooperation with NASA researchers, who also helped the scientists with technical equipment.