{"id":65434,"date":"2020-11-16T04:51:54","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T09:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/?page_id=65434"},"modified":"2020-12-08T10:01:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T15:01:48","slug":"pain-relief-you-can-wear","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/about-us\/our-publications\/inside-sargent\/inside-sargent-2020\/pain-relief-you-can-wear\/","title":{"rendered":"Pain Relief You Can Wear"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A soft exosuit developed by researchers at Sargent helps mobility and movement for people suffering from lower back pain, aiding them in activities such as heavy lifting. Photo courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard University<\/div>\n

Sixteen million Americans\u20148 percent of the adult population\u2014suffer persistent back pain. Many more visit their doctor for the occasional twinge. According to a 2018 study in JAMA<\/em>, low back pain is one of the most common reasons given for prescribing opioids. That\u2019s fueling the opioid crisis\u2014and there\u2019s little evidence the powerful painkillers even help. <\/p>\n

\u201cChronic low back pain is often debilitating,\u201d says Lou Awad<\/a>, an assistant professor of physical therapy. \u201cMany turn to opioids to help manage the pain, but mistake short-term relief for a long-term cure. Unfortunately, long-term opioid therapies can cause serious problems. Perhaps more importantly, the underlying cause of the pain is never addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The solution, he says, might not be a pill you swallow\u2014it might be something you wear.<\/p>\n

Awad researches and develops robotic apparel, battery-powered exosuits that make mobility and movement easier for patients who have had a stroke. He\u2019s now coleading a clinical team developing similar technology for people with back pain. The work is funded by a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health as part of its Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (HEAL)<\/a>, an all-out effort to find better treatments for pain and the opioid abuse it can spawn.<\/p>\n

\nA major clinical trial has shown that the exosuit can be a safe and effective tool for the lower limb rehabilitation of survivors of stroke. Read \u201cA Step Forward\u201d to learn more.<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cThe robotic apparel consists of cables that apply mechanical forces in parallel with the underlying muscles,\u201d Awad says. \u201cThe system is designed to be worn like a backpack, with attachments over the shoulder, around the waist, and also around the thighs. It is very unobtrusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the power\u2019s off, the wearer can move, bend, and reach without any restriction. Hit the \u201con\u201d button, and the device \u201cresponds to the speed and motion of the user to adaptively help lift and hold objects,\u201d Awad says. Meanwhile, its sensors monitor the wearers\u2019 movements, recording diagnostic data for their physical therapist and offering biofeedback for them, showing \u201chow to move in a way that may reduce their pain and increase their function.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting help from a physical therapist has been shown to help with pain while reducing reliance on opioids, says Awad. \u201cThe robotic technology that we are advancing has a lot of potential to enhance a physical therapist\u2019s ability to assess and treat low back pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exosuit will be tested at the BU Physical Therapy Center in the Ryan Center<\/a> after the study team\u2019s physical therapists and engineers complete modifications, says Diane Dalton<\/a>, coleader of the clinical team and a clinical associate professor of physical therapy and athletic training. The Sargent team is collaborating with Harvard\u2019s Conor Walsh<\/a>, an adjunct associate professor at Sargent, who leads the engineering side of the research. \u201cEventually, we will begin testing its use by people with low back pain as part of a clinical trial,\u201d Dalton says. That testing has been held up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Dalton can\u2019t wait to begin. \u201cThis is exciting technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read more stories from Inside Sargent<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A soft exosuit developed by researchers at Sargent helps mobility and movement for people suffering from lower back pain, aiding them in activities such as heavy lifting. Photo courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard University Sixteen million Americans\u20148 percent of the adult population\u2014suffer persistent back pain. Many more visit their doctor for the occasional twinge. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14030,"featured_media":0,"parent":65260,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65434"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66186,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65434\/revisions\/66186"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}