Calgary high school students develop wearable technology for those with Parkinson’s disease
Calgary high school students develop wearable technology for those with Parkinson’s disease
Publish Date: 2026-06-02 19:29:00
Source Domain: www.cbc.ca
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Allen Guo-Lu and Luotong Shi aren’t your typical Grade 12 students.
While most are either busily preparing for final exams or revelling in the fact that their high school careers are almost over, Guo-Lu and Shi have spent their senior year developing wearable technology to help people battling Parkinson’s disease avoid serious falls.
“It’s our last year in Grade 12, so we were like, ‘Why don’t we try to kind of give back to the community?'” Shi told CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener.
“This was one of the ways that we thought of doing it.”
The technology — a wearable battery-powered tail equipped with built-in sensors — can detect when the wearer may be unstable and act as a counterweight to help them regain their balance, Shi said.
Luotong Shi is a Grade 12 student at Western Canada High School in Calgary. She spoke to CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday about the wearable tail she helped design. (CBC)
“It essentially works kind of like the idea of a spine where there is several pieces that you can attach and the tubes act as tendons,” Shi said.
In April, the Western Canada High School students won the University of Calgary Chancellor and Senate Award at the Calgary Youth Science Fair. The project was also a finalist at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Edmonton last week.
There are at least 120,000 people living with Parkinson’s in Canada, and that number is expected to exceed 150,000 by 2034, according to Ko Currie with Parkinson Canada.
The Parkinson Association of Alberta estimates roughly 15,000 Albertans live with the disease.
Tremors and gait features like slowness, difficulty with balance or rigidity are some of the more recognizable symptoms of the disease, Currie said, adding falls are a significant concern.
“It’s one of the most disabling…
