Parreha

Using innovative IT technology and the latest scientific models, PARREHA is an EC-funded project which has resulted in ground-breaking developments. Virtual reality spectacles are being used to dramatically transform the mobility of people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

The project, running over 3 years, incorporates the talents of four engineering companies, the University of Athens, a European Parkinson’s association (EUROPARK) and the European Union’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) – all forming a consortium managed by Oxford Computer Consultants who also provide the software programming expertise.

The PARREHA system helps in the assessment of motor performance and the design of rehabilitation training programmes for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) – through the use of motion tracking, 3D graphics, audio- feedback, virtual reality and teleconferencing.

People with PD are also able to communicate with health care professionals via video-conferencing equipment. The medical expert can assess a patient’s motor performance and adjust their rehabilitation routines according to their progress, without the patient ever having to leave home.

People with PD often have severe mobility difficulties so that negotiating a journey to a far-off clinical is a daunting prospect. Remote video-conferencing with scarce specialists provides an efficient way of overcoming these problems.

For the many PD patients who exhibit the startling kinesia paradoxa response in which they are able to walk normally in the presence of audio-visual cues, such as an image of stripes on the floor or sounds of rhythmic music, the PARREHA spectacles are providing significant improvements. Virtual lines projected at the side of the eye are used to trigger kinesia paradoxa and patients with the familiar shuffling PD gait suddenly walk normally.

To see the glasses in action, click here for video clip. The project is currently undergoing extensive clinical trials and results will be published.