Fresno State professor invents device for patients with hand tremors

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno State professor has developed an invention that could be life changing to patients dealing with hand tremors.

Everyday tasks are very different for Clovis resident Patrick Hallmark.

He said, "One of the hardest things is eating, drinking. This makes it so much easier. I'm not spilling stuff everywhere."

Hallmark suffers from Essential tremors and Parkinson's Disease, but has recently been helped by an invention called tremelo.

It was created by Fresno State mechanical engineering professor Leo Nguyen and has been worked on by engineering students.

Nguyen, who is also the Five Microns founder, explained how it works to us.

"It's a mass, a small mass; it will shake back and forth against the tremor motion. So pretending my hands are shaking with a tremor right now, it goes to the left, the mass will go to the right and vice versa. Always opposite, and there's a spring between the mass and hand," he said.

It's a technology that is already used in industries and applied to airplanes, high rises and now health care.

The tremelo has gained some financial backing.

New California ventures LLC has made a 450,000 investment into five microns. That's paid for a statewide study and allowed them to manufacture prototypes from a Fresno facility.

The engineers are able to make adjustments locally for patients.. Nguyen says there are no side effects, because the device is removable.

For now, they continue to fine-tune the tremelo. The anti-tremor device is scheduled to hit the market in 2019.

For Hallmark, he's counting down the days, and says "It would make their quality of life better. They would see how good it works and love it as much as I do."

I's a life-changing device that has the potential to impact lives across the Valley and the world.