Stochastic Resonance Therapy (SRT) was born in the German city of Frankfurt when Dietmar Schmidtbleicher developed a new training device for Olympic athletes. Since then, the whole-body vibration device he developed has been studied and shown to be effective in the treatment of Parkinson’s motor symptoms. While you may have already heard of the benefits of vibration therapy and Parkinson’s, chances are you haven’t heard of SRT until now.
SRT is different from other types of vibration devices. It delivers randomized and non-uniform oscillations and perturbations to the body, whereas all other devices on the market deliver uniform, sinusoidal vibrations. The random nature of SRT vibrations elicits the automatic stretch reflex in the muscles, which leads to postural adjustments being made in the spinal cord and the cerebellum (the part of the brain that automatically adjusts movement patterns). These adjustments keep the head still and the body upright while on the device. Hundreds to thousands of stimuli are delivered to the spinal cord and cerebellum in a matter of minutes.
In the literature, SRT has been shown to decrease tremor and rigidity, improve postural control and balance, and lead to better gait patterns in Parkinsons patients. For further information contact:
The following is an update on the status of the SRT therapy for use in the USA from Kyle Harris…
The SRT Zeptoring is available for purchase in the US by way the company in Berlin. It is primarily intended for use within a clinical setting, ie physical therapy clinic, and the price point reflects that. And as far as I know there’s are still only two units in the States.
However, it could be purchased for private in home use, cost being the prohibitive factor. It is equivalent to purchasing a luxury car.
I still hope to help this technology to the US, but the going has been incredibly difficult. Medical professionals are understandably hesitant to invest in a machine that they currently cannot bill for insurance. The SRT Zeptoring would easily clear the FDA requirements to be able to bill insurance, the German-based company is still waiting to officially expand here while they focus on expanding in Asia and continue to do very well in Europe.
Maybe some of your listeners would have the resources to be able to visit Germany to try the device. I would be more than happy to put them in contact with my contacts at the Berlin headquarters.
Hopefully in a a couple years we will be on he road to SRT being available via the US healthcare system.
Kyle Harris, MS, CSCS, SRT Zeptoring
Cell: 605.454.1418
Email: kyledharris2017@gmail.com
Brady Volmering
Cell: 989.551.9503
Parkinsons Dis. 2016:2016:7948721. Postural Stability in Parkinson’s Disease Patients Is Improved after Stochastic Resonance Therapy
Abstract
Background. Postural instability in Parkinson’s disease (PD) increases the risk of falls and is not improved by pharmacological therapy. Objective. We performed a double-blind, randomized sham-controlled study to test the effects of stochastic resonance (whole body vibration) therapy on postural stability in PD.
Methods. Fifty-six PD participants were allocated to either experimental or sham groups. The experimental group received four series of vibration over eight days, with each series consisting of six stimulus trains of 60-second duration using a randomized whole body vibration. Participants allocated to the control group received a sham treatment.
Results. Within-group analysis revealed that postural stability in the experimental group improved by 17.5% (p = 0.005) comparing experimental and sham groups. The between-group analysis of change after treatment comparing both groups also showed a significant improvement of postural stability (p = 0.03). Only in the within-group analysis several items were improved after Bonferroni correction, too, rigor 41.6% (p = 0.001), bradykinesia 23.7% (p = 0.001), tremor 30.8% (p = 0.006), and UPDRSIII sum score 23.9% (p = 0.000), but did not reach the level of significance in the between-group analysis.
Conclusions. Stochastic resonance therapy significantly enhanced postural stability even in individuals with increased risk of falling. Thus it offers a potential supplementation to canonical treatments of PD.
Robert Rodgers PhD
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery
