Stable walking is problematical for many Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, sometimes experienced as “Freezing of Gait” (FOG), a brief interruption of their natural walking rhythm usually limited to advanced stages of PD. Visual cues have been found to reduce FOG so that patients are able to continue their walking without interruption, thereby reducing falls. This study assessed the difference in the impact on FOG with a group of PD patients receiving visual cues from an innovative “laser cane” and with a traditional cane with no cues.

This study of 30 PD patients compares the impact on FOG of a cane that provided visual cues from a laser beam with a cane providing no cues during both ‘on’ and ‘off’ responses to medications. For each test the individual subjects were videotaped walking two rounds on a 5-meter track and their footsteps were printed on paper tracking sheets.

The visual cues of the laser beam cane significantly increased both stride length and velocity during the ‘off’ medication period in all of the participating patients. Greater improvements of the gait parameters were experienced in PD patients with the moderate stage (H & Y=3) (17 patients) than those in the mild stage (H & Y=2) (13 patients); with the biggest differences in reduced FOG and increased stride length.

This study demonstrates that an effective, low-cost intervention can be designed and implemented in low and middle-income countries for solving the problem of FOG in PD patients using locally available technology.