Crystal Mackay

For people with Parkinson’s disease, early diagnosis is critical. By identifying symptoms early, health-care providers are able to initiate early intervention that can slow symptom progression. However, understanding and monitoring early symptoms can be challenging, especially in low-resource countries where access to health-care technology is limited. This summer, engineering PhD student Olusoji Ogunbode was on the ground in Nigeria working to tackle that challenge under the supervision of engineering professor and project lead Ana Luisa Trejos. “In low-income communities that don’t have the same resources, so many people go undiagnosed. Fast diagnosis is absolutely critical, so that we can get the treatment in place to manage symptoms, allowing people to remain independent for longer,” said Trejos. As part of the Engineering for Health Equity fellowship, Ogunbode spent the summer working with collaborators in Ogbomoso, Nigeria to test wearable technology that can track Parkinson’s symptoms in real time, including tremors, freezing episodes and slowness of movement. The technology uses previously developed sensors that the team is working to integrate into clothing and textiles to allow for unobtrusive full-body tracking of symptoms. Coupled with bespoke software, the wearable sensors can provide information both for diagnosis and to monitor the progression of the disease. “The goal is to design customizable software that relays important metrics for use by clinicians, caregivers and people with Parkinson’s disease,” said Ogunbode.

“Parkinson’s disease is still largely misunderstood by many people in Nigeria. But what I witnessed gives me hope; people want answers, clinicians want support and caregivers want tools that empower, not overwhelm them.” – Olusoji Ogunbode, engineering PhD student

While in Nigeria, Ogunbode enrolled people with Parkinson’s disease in a study to test the sensors and better understand how the environment, climate, infrastructure and other factors influence their use. He also met with clinicians and caregivers to understand what they need to glean from the technology to make the data meaningful for them.  

Frugal innovation

The project is funded through the Frugal Biomedical Innovations Catalyst Grants program, which enables Western investigators and their collaborators to co-create, develop, test and advance medical devices that will meet needs in remote and low resource communities. Created in 2022, the Frugal Biomedical Innovations Program is a multi-faculty initiative led by Western’s Faculty of Engineering that works with partners in remote and low-resource communities in Northern Canada and Africa. Originally from Nigeria, Ogunbode connected with Dr. Ajani Adegbenro Sunday at Kwara State University, who enthusiastically partnered on the project. “Frugal innovation is about bridging gaps in health care,” said Ogunbode. “We are exploring not just how the technology works, but how we can ensure people from low-income communities have access to and can use the device.” As part of his work, he is looking for ways to ensure it can be easily adopted in Nigerian health-care environments and produced on in those communities. Ogunbode is working to identify methods and locally available resources for manufacturing the device. He recently visited a textile company that uses a specific kind of weaving unique to Nigeria that they hope to integrate into the project. “We knew that the device and software needed to be very low cost, very accessible, so that we can incorporate it into all sorts of communities,” said Trejos. “Because it is textile-based, our goal is to ensure it can be manufactured anywhere. If you can sew, embroider or weave, you should be able to produce this device.”