Musical glove helps people with spinal cord injuries

A new musical glove developed by researchers at a US university may help heal people with spinal cord injuries by improving their sensation and mobility.

 

The researchers from Georgia Tech said the wireless glove was a success with people who had limited feeling or movement in their hands due to tetraplegia.

 

“(W)e were surprised by how much improvement they made in our study. For example, after using the glove, some participants were able to feel the texture of their bed sheets and clothes for the first time since their injury,” said project leader Ph.D. graduate Tanya Markow.

 

Dubbed Mobile Music Touch (MMT), the glove was used on individuals who sustained injuries more than a year before the study.

 

The one-year period is a time frame when most rehab patients see very little improvement for the remainder of their lives.

 

MMT was primarily used while the participants were going about their daily routines.

 

The device looks like a workout glove with a small box on the back. It is used with a piano keyboard and vibrates a person’s fingers to indicate which keys to play.

 

"While learning to play the instrument, several people with SCI (spinal cord injuries) experienced improved sensation in their fingers," the Georgia Tech news release said.

 

The MMT system works with a computer, MP3 player or smart phone. A song is programmed into a device wirelessly linked to the glove.

 

When the musical notes are illuminated on the correct keys on the piano keyboard, the gadget sends vibrations to “tap” the corresponding fingers.

 

The participants play along, gradually memorizing the keys and learning additional songs.

 

Renewed brain activity

 

Markow said the increased motor abilities could be due to renewed brain activity that may have become dormant in persons with SCI.

 

She theorized the vibration might trigger activity in the hand’s sensory cortex, which leads to firing in the brain’s motor cortex.

 

Markow wants to expand the study to include functional MRI results.

 

Meanwhile, the glove has evolved under the leadership of Georgia Tech’s Thad Starner and Ellen Yi-Luen Do, as well as Deborah Backus, director of multiple sclerosis research at Shepherd Center.

 

The initial concept, Piano Touch, developed with the team by then master’s student Kevin Huang, showed people could easily learn to play the piano by wearing the glove and feeling its vibrations.

 

“Equipment used for hand rehabilitation may seem monotonous and boring to some, and doesn’t provide any feedback or incentive,” said Starner, who oversees the Contextual Computing Group.

 

“Mobile Music Touch overcomes each of those challenges and provides surprising benefits for people with weakness and sensory loss due to SCI. It’s a great example of how wearable computing can change people’s lives,” Starner added.

 

8-week project

 

For eight weeks, Markow worked with individuals with SCI who had limited feeling or movement in their hands.

 

Each of the individuals had suffered a spinal injury more than a year prior to the study.

 

The eight-week project had the study participants practice playing the piano for 30 minutes, three times a week.  Half used the MMT glove to practice.

 

Also, the participants also wore the glove at home for two hours a day, five days a week, feeling only the vibration and not playing the piano.

 

Wearing the MMT system passively in this manner helped participants learn songs faster and retain them better, previous studies showed.

 

At the end of the study, participants performed common grasping and sensation tests to measure their improvement - those who used the MMT system performed significantly better than those who just learned the piano normally.

 

“Some people were able to pick up objects more easily. Another said he could immediately feel the heat from a cup of coffee, rather than after a delay,” said Markow. — TJD, GMA News