An MIT class project became an FDA-cleared wristband that eases essential tremor

A wristband that uses gentle vibration to calm tremors, first built by students in an MIT product-design class, has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration to help adults with essential tremor, MIT News reported. The device is made by Encora Therapeutics, the company the students founded.

A spiral drawn on stage in 2017

In 2017, a man named Michael, whose early-onset Parkinson's caused severe hand tremors, tried to draw a spiral on stage at MIT. Then he put on the students' prototype, "a foamcore box with a Raspberry Pi chip and some wires", and pressed a button. Within seconds his tremors eased and he drew the spiral far more precisely.

“When this device is turned on, I feel like I used to feel when I didn't have Parkinson's disease.” — Michael, at the 2017 class presentation

Vibration sends a signal to the brain

The device vibrates the wrist to activate stretch receptors, which send patterned signals through the nerves to the brain regions involved in tremor, the same regions targeted by brain surgery. The team switched its focus from Parkinson's to essential tremor, a more common condition that causes shaking, often in the hands, and has seen less new treatment.

In a 2024 trial with 47 patients and a 59-person home-use trial in 2025, more than 70% of patients had meaningful improvement. The FDA granted 510(k) clearance in February.

Insurance coverage is the next hurdle

Encora is now building a sales team and seeking insurance coverage before the device is widely available to patients who qualify. Co-founder Daniel Carballo says the company still hopes to help people with Parkinson's in future. It joins other new Parkinson's-related advances, such as a once-daily pill that cut symptom "off" time in a phase 3 trial.