Investigating the Effectiveness of Haptic Resistive Force Feedback to Improve Tremors in Parkinson's Disease: A Training Impact Study

The goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of haptic resistive force feedback in improving the upper limb tremors in Parkinson's Disease (PD) during a button push task. We developed a haptic-mixed reality (HMR) button push simulation system that provides virtual button touch feedback synchronized with mixed reality 3D buttons and various levels of kinesthetic resistance force against hand movements. Two user studies were conducted: one to ensure the system's usability with 25 healthy individuals, and another to measure tremor improvement over a five-day training program with seven individuals diagnosed with idiopathic PD. PD participants were randomly assigned to either a haptic resistive force group or a no haptic resistance group. The results demonstrated that the system provided excellent usability for both healthy and PD participants. Additionally, PD participants in the haptic resistance group showed improvements in tremor and upper bradykinesia levels compared to the no haptic resistance group.