Charco Neurotech announces publication of a pilot RCT, with data highlighting that the CUE1+ is safe, well tolerated, with encouraging signals for motor symptom relief in people with Parkinson’s
A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 50 people with Parkinson’s, published in Parkinson’s Disease, part of the Nature Portfolio, is the first randomised sham-controlled trial of the sternum-worn therapeutic device
CAMBRIDGE, UK, 11th August 2026 — Charco Neurotech, the Cambridge-based neurotechnology company behind the CUE1+ wearable, today welcomed the publication of an independently conducted, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial of the device in people with Parkinson’s disease, published in npj Parkinson’s Disease.
The study, led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London’s Centre for Preventive Neurology and run across Barts Health NHS Trust and Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, is the first sham-controlled randomised trial of CUE1+, a non-invasive, sternum-worn device that uses vibrotactile stimulation to support movement in people with Parkinson’s.
Fifty adults with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, stable on their usual medication, were randomly assigned to wear either an active CUE1+ device or an indistinguishable sham device for eight hours a day over 12 weeks. Neither participants nor assessors knew which device each person had been given.
KEY FINDINGS
The trial was designed primarily to assess usability, safety, and tolerability, and found the device performed strongly against all three measures. Alongside these primary findings, the trial also measured exploratory clinical outcomes. Participants using the active device showed a mean 11.1-point greater improvement on the MDS-UPDRS Part III motor score than the sham group (95% CI −17.3 to −4.9), and a mean 7.6-point greater improvement on the PDQ-39 quality-of-life index (95% CI −12.3 to −3.0), both assessed while participants were on their normal medication.
QUOTES
“People with Parkinson’s have limited non-invasive treatment options that can be integrated into everyday life. This trial showed that the CUE1+ device was safe, well tolerated and used consistently over 12 weeks of daily home use. While this pilot study was not designed to establish clinical efficacy, the encouraging exploratory findings in motor symptoms and quality of life provide a strong rationale for larger, adequately powered trials to determine whether wearable vibrotactile stimulation can deliver meaningful benefits alongside standard Parkinson’s care.”
Dr Cristina Simonet, Principal Investigator, Centre for Preventive Neurology, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London.
“We set out to conduct a study that would be run independently of Charco, with a real sham control, because people with Parkinson’s deserve solutions that are backed by robust clinical evidence to give them the best possible information when considering treatment for their symptoms. The team at Queen Mary, Barts Health and Homerton have delivered exactly that, and the fact that the CUE1+ came through as safe, well tolerated, and with highly encouraging efficacy signals is a truly important milestone for us. We’re working hard to make the CUE1+ available to those people who could benefit from it, and looking at what a larger, fully powered trial would involve.”
Andrew Mullen, Chief Executive Officer, Charco Neurotech.
“These findings are an important step forward in understanding the potential benefits of vibrotactile cueing devices for the Parkinson’s community. Whilst larger, longer trials are needed to further explore the potential of CUE1+, it’s encouraging to see that the device was well tolerated and saw an improvement in movement symptoms. These findings suggest that CUE1+ has potential as a complementary intervention alongside standard Parkinson’s treatments.”
Emma Rodgers, Research Communications Manager at Parkinson’s UK.
ABOUT THE STUDY
“Sternum-worn vibrotactile device in Parkinson’s disease: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial” was published in npj Parkinson’s Disease on 3 July 2026 (DOI: 10.1038/s41531-026-01448-y). The trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06174948). It was supported by a UK Research and Innovation Knowledge Transfer Partnership (2021–2022, round 4) and by Charco Neurotech Ltd, which supplied CUE1+ and sham devices. As stated in the published paper, the funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or the writing of the manuscript.
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