Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Cerebral Palsy is a condition known to be linked to irregular brain development or damage to the developing brain. Scientists from the University of Melbourne have created a smartphone app, which has the function of accelerating the early diagnosis of cerebral palsy in infants, enabling parents to carry out an initial screening from home.
The role of technology in medicine has steadily to progressed throughout the decades and has shown great promise in improving the lives of individuals with cerebral palsy. Reports from 2014 indicated how a platform developed by students at Rice University can test the capabilities of individuals with the condition.
Cerebral palsy, the most prevalent lifelong physical disability, is particularly common among babies born prematurely or those with medical conditions such as congenital heart defects.
The initial role in screening involves the General Movements Assessment (GMA), during which trained professionals evaluate and score an infant’s movement patterns to detect irregularities that may signal a high risk of cerebral palsy.
Traditionally, this assessment requires an in-person hospital visit. However, the Baby Moves VIEW app allows parents to record their baby’s movements at home and securely share the video with specialists for evaluation.
The app aims to boost early detection by allowing parents to have their baby evaluated more easily within the critical four-week testing period.
Professor Alicia Spittle, co-founder, stated that babies at risk should have a GMA between 12 and 16 weeks old, but for many families—especially those in rural or remote areas—visiting a clinician during this time can be difficult.
She pointed out that at present, the average age for diagnosing cerebral palsy in Australia is 19 months, but their app has the potential to lower that to as early as three months.
Co-founder Dr. Amanda Kwong pointed out that the identification of cerebral palsy early allows babies to access interventions sooner, which can lessen the severity of the condition and support better long-term health outcomes.
She further indicated that initiating treatment as early as possible is vital, as it enables therapists to take advantage of the baby’s neuroplasticity and help rewire neural pathways.
Because the recordings must be captured under precise conditions, the Baby Moves VIEW app includes an AI-powered algorithm to evaluate the video quality.
Dr. Kwong indicated that if factors like the baby crying or being dressed in too many layers affect the recording, the algorithm will alert the parent that the video cannot be put into use.
“Our app will be compliant with Australia’s data security laws so we can assure parents that their videos will be transmitted to clinicians securely without any risk of their personal data being compromised.”
The prototype has already been tested in more than 20 international studies, involving over 10,000 families worldwide.
Professor Spittle noted that the app has proven effective in supporting early detection of cerebral palsy in research settings, adding that families have shown strong interest in early screening.
“We’re in the process of building a dataset of videos which we can eventually use to train the AI models to assess the videos.”
The project has secured $366,000 in support from Australia’s Economic Accelerator program to help bring the app to market.
Doctors, allied health specialists, and parents are working together on the co-design of the newest version, with the aim of making it publicly accessible within the next two years.
Professor Spittle pointed out that in the long run, their vision is for this to be a government-funded service, ensuring that all children can benefit from early cerebral palsy screening.
