Objetivo
In the EU more than 4.25M people aged 40 and over are affected by Essential Tremor (ET), a progressive neurological disorder whose most recognizable feature is a tremor of the arms that is apparent during voluntary movements. ET affects the hand in 90% of the cases and, consequently, everyday tasks and those requiring fine motor skills (such as eating and writing) become very difficult for the patients, and this drastically decreases their quality of life (QoL). Medication and surgical interventions are currently employed to reduce tremor in patients suffering from ET. However, both present poor outcomes and, besides being very expensive, both can result in side effects, the major part of which are very debilitating for the patient (e.g. drowsiness, toxic reactions, permanent complications, etc.). As a result of the current poor outcomes, treating patients with ET is still an unsolved problem that drastically affects the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and the QoL of approximately 2M European people. During the last years, scientific publications have shown that ET responds to biomechanical loading. It has been clinically proven that the increase of dumping and/or inertia in the upper limb leads to a reduction of the tremorous motion, and this led to the development of experimental wearable devices for tremor suppression (orthoses). However, existing concept solutions still present reduced performance and several limitations such as obtrusiveness, weight, and low acceptance among users that have prevented their development as a commercial product. The aim of the Trem-End project is to develop an innovative commercial orthesis for tremor suppression at wrist of patients resistant to conventional treatments, and which will be cost effective compared with current solutions. The device will implement an innovative mechanism (rotary damping technology) that will not only reduce obtrusiveness, but also increase tremor suppression efficacy compared with current solution
Ámbito científico
Tema(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
FP7-SME-2010-1
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria
Régimen de financiación
BSG-SME - Research for SMEsCoordinador
46014 VALENCIA
España