Smart Socks: Innovation to Expand Accessibility and Precision of Rehabilitation for People with Multiple Sclerosis

The ability to advance care for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is currently limited by the lack of tools that allow clinicians to measure changes in disability and walking function over time and in the real world.

MS is a neurological disorder that can lead to significant mobility impairments. For example, people with MS often experience muscle weakness, spasticity, balance impairments, and fatigue, which may impair walking ability and can lead to an increased risk of falls. In fact, studies report that 50-70% of people with MS experience at least one fall over a six-month period. The consequences of falls can be significant, including physical injury, fear, and reduced independence.

“The current tools we have available to measure disability and walking function can only be used in the clinic,” says Brad Willingham, Ph.D., director of MS research at Shepherd Center's Virginia C. Crawford Research Institute. “This makes it difficult to measure changes that occur in patients between visits to the clinic, and it can take several months or years to detect changes in mobility associated with the progression of disability.”

To solve this challenge, Shepherd Center is partnering with Sensoria Health, a preeminent developer of innovative smart garments, software, and wearable systems, to develop and apply new technologies to advance the precision of care for people with MS.

“There are many wearable sensors on the market today that have greatly expanded our ability to evaluate patients in the home and the community,” Davide Vigano, Sensoria Health CEO and co-founder says, “What makes Sensoria’s approach to wearables particularly innovative and useful is the integration of microelectronics and textile sensors into comfortable garments and footwear such as shirts, socks, and other accessories that we wear every day. Our approach offers a truly wearable solution that seamlessly incorporates health monitoring technology into our everyday lives.”

Sensoria Health’s smart textile technology enables more accurate and precise measurement by allowing sensors to be placed nearly anywhere on the body. For example, Sensoria Health has recently created a system that measures walking function using smart socks that are infused with proprietary textile pressure sensors. These smart socks communicate wirelessly to a custom-developed mobile application, Sensoria® Walk, designed to measure gait impairments. While Sensoria smart socks feel and fit like regular socks, they can measure walking patterns in great detail and automatically send information to healthcare professionals via a privacy-compliant cloud software system.

“Measuring walking patterns, or gait, is an important part of assessing clinical disability in people with MS, but this measurement has been historically limited to in-clinic measurements that require direct supervision or the use of large, expensive equipment,” Willingham says. “Our partnership with Sensoria Health is focused on exploring how to leverage cutting-edge sensor technology, such as smart socks, to expand clinical evaluation into daily life. Such advancements may lead to more responsive treatment strategies and new scientific discoveries related to how MS impacts walking in real-world environments.”