New app makes cerebral palsy screening more accessible, paving the way for early diagnosis

A smartphone app, developed by University of Melbourne researchers, is helping speed up the process of diagnosing cerebral palsy in babies, by allowing parents to complete an early screening test from the comfort of their own home.

Cerebral palsy is the most common lifelong physical disability and infants born prematurely or with medical issues such as congenital heart disease, are more susceptible to developing the brain disorder.

The General Movements Assessment (GMA) is the first stage of the screening process, where certified assessors observe and score the baby’s movement patterns to identify abnormalities, which indicate a high likelihood of the infant having cerebral palsy.

This test typically requires an in-person hospital appointment, but thanks to the Baby Moves VIEW app, parents will be able to film their baby’s movements at home and safely send the recording to assessors for review.

The app is designed to improve early detection rates by making it easier for parents to have their baby assessed during the crucial four week testing window.

Co-founder Professor Alicia Spittle said, “At-risk babies should undergo a GMA between 12 and 16 weeks of age, but for many parents, particularly those who live in rural or remote regions, taking their child to see a clinician during this period can be challenging.

“The average age of cerebral palsy diagnosis in Australia is 19 months but our app can bring the age down to as early as 3 months.”

Co-founder Dr. Amanda Kwong said, “Early diagnosis means earlier access to interventions which can reduce the severity of the disorder and improve the baby’s long-term health outcomes.

“It’s crucial for a baby with cerebral palsy to begin treatment as early as possible as it allows therapists to harness their neuroplastic brains and rewire neural pathways.”

As the recordings need to be taken under strict conditions, the Baby Moves VIEW app will have a built-in AI algorithm to assess the quality of the videos.

“If the recording was impeded by the baby crying or wearing too many clothes for example, the algorithm will notify the parent that the video isn’t usable,” Dr. Kwong said.

“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 research prototype has already been used successfully in more than 20 international studies, involving more than 10,000 families.

“The app has supported early diagnosis of cerebral palsy in research settings, and we’ve shown families want early screening,” Professor Spittle said.

“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.”

Health professionals and parents have been recruited to help co-design the latest version and it’s hoped the app will become publicly available within two years.

“Long term, we hope this is a service that can be funded by the government, so every child gets access to early cerebral palsy screening,” Professor Spittle said.