Gadget for people with Tourette’s, now trialed

Experts from the University of Nottingham created a smartwatch-like gadget to help people with Tourette’s syndrome.

Image | BBC

The wearable device is developed to reduce involuntary sounds and movements, which are known as tics, by intercepting signals to the brain.

As of now, it’s under clinical trial and is being trialed to more than a hundred people based on the report by Navtej Johal & Amy Phipps of BBC East Midlands.

The person who leads the trial is Professor Stephen Jackson, he said that it works by “sending electrical stimulation via the wrist to the areas of the brain involved in generating the tics.”. He also said that this was made based on the demand of patients who doesn’t want any medication.

“People with Tourette’s syndrome said to us they wanted a safe and effective treatment that they could use outside the clinic that didn’t involve drugs but gave them control over their tics.

“Hopefully that’s what this device will give them.

“It’s not a cure but what it will give them is the opportunity to temporarily suppress their tics in situations where they feel it necessary,” he said.

Based on the study by Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 out of 162 children have Tourette’s syndrome and they’re suggesting that around of the children with TS may still not be diagnosed.

One famous celebrity is known for having Tourette’s syndrome and she is Billie Eilish.