'Laser guided shoe' to help Parkinsons's disease sufferers entered in Dragons-Den style business contest

Inventor Lise Pape, 34, was inspired to come up with the shoe by her father's illness
Walking aid: Lise Pape’s Path Finder shoe can guide Parkinson’s sufferers

A “laser-guided shoe” that helps Parkinson’s disease sufferers walk without falling is among the medical innovations entered in a Dragons’ Den-style contest to win business mentoring for inventors.

Denmark-born Lise Pape, 34, was inspired to come up with her Path Finder shoe by her father’s illness.

Like many with the condition, he often experiences “freezing of gait” — a sensation that his feet are stuck to the floor — which can lead to falls and injuries.

The unsteady feeling can be helped by visual cues, such as lines on the floor, and Ms Pape, who studied innovation design and engineering for a Masters at Imperial College and the Royal College of Art, made a shoe that emits green light in front of the walker. Early tests suggest that it more than halves “freezing of gait” episodes.

The 14 products in the competition are in the early stages of development and 10 will be picked by a panel headed by science writer Roger Highfield for a 10-week “accelerator” course to advance them closer to the point of commercial production.

The event, organised by the Design Council and MedCity — set up to promote life sciences in London and the South-East — will take place tonight at the Royal College of General Practitioners near Euston station.

Inventive: Cara O’Sullivan is creating personalised walking aid kits

Cara O’Sullivan, 22, a Brunel University industrial design and technology graduate, was motivated by her grandfather to design a mobility aid. He suffered a sudden deterioration in his mobility last summer, requiring a walking stick, then crutches and finally a walking frame.

She said: “There was a big financial impact because each was only needed for a few weeks then just left in the corner. It was a waste.”

Ms O’Sullivan has devised a kit of interchangeable aluminium tubes and handles that allows physiotherapists and users to create an adaptable mobility aid that can halve the cost of conventional ones. It also means children can “grow with” the devices.

Other innovations include an electric plug for arthritis sufferers that can be used with one finger and a sophisticated medical alert system.

John Mathers, chief executive of the Design Council, said: “We have a fantastic pool of innovation talent in Britain — it just needs to be harnessed and this scheme aims to do just that.”

Dr Eliot Forster, executive chair of MedCity, said: “Good design is fundamental in creating a product that people want to use and is especially important when it comes to independent living.”

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