A groundbreaking analysis by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has found that wearable leg sensors may detect signs of cerebral palsy (CP) in infants as young as 1 month old—far earlier than traditional methods.
The results could lead to a new, more objective way to identify which babies are at high risk for CP, enabling clinical teams to intervene much earlier with precision interventions.
Beth A. Smith, DPT, PhD, Director of CHLA’s Neuromotor Control Laboratory, as senior author, presented the results at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in the spring.
“These findings represent a critical opportunity to incorporate new clinical practices that may greatly improve the lives of our young patients,” says Dr. Smith. “Sensor data equips us with much more objective information to help classify which infants are at high risk sooner and track who responds well to intervention.”
Traditionally, CP risk is evaluated through brain imaging and observational tools like the General Movement Assessment (GMA), which clinicians use in the first few months of life. While helpful, observational tools are often subjective and depend on how a baby behaves in a short window of time—typically five minutes in a clinic setting.
“That five-minute window may or may not reflect what the baby is doing the rest of the day,” says Dr. Smith, who has been investigating wearable technology in neurodevelopmental conditions since 2011.
“Wearable sensors give us a much fuller, more accurate picture of how infants move in their natural environment.”
The study, conducted in partnership with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Oklahoma, followed 60 infants with early brain injury, a known risk factor for CP. Starting at just 4 weeks old, each infant wore lightweight motion sensors on both ankles for two full days a month through age 4 months.
The sensors tracked how often the babies moved their legs, how long each movement lasted, and how those patterns changed over time. By month 4, each infant was evaluated using standard clinical tools to determine whether they were at high risk for CP.
The month 1 sensor data showed striking differences:
Infants later classified as high risk for CP moved their legs far less frequently—a median of 220 times per hour awake, compared with 348 in the lower-risk group.
Their movements were also shorter in duration.
These differences were statistically significant and remained consistent through 4 months of age.
This suggests we may be able to identify infants at high risk of cerebral palsy months earlier—using continuous, objective data rather than short, subjective clinic-based observationsBeth A. Smith, DPT, PhD, Director of CHLA’s Neuromotor Control Laboratory
Infants who were classified as high-risk are now advancing to the next phase of the study: robotics-supported therapy aimed at improving mobility and developmental outcomes.
The team’s goal is to see whether the early sensor data can help predict how well infants will respond to these interventions. That could further personalize care—and help clinicians and families focus on intensive therapy where it’s most likely to make a difference.
That’s important because, while research shows that early intervention is critical for improving long-term outcomes in children with CP, these therapies require a major commitment from families. That includes multiple clinic visits each week for over a year.
“Our goal is to identify the right treatment, for the right baby, at the right time,” says Dr. Smith. “If we can say at 1 or 2 months, ‘Your child is likely to benefit from this,’ that’s a powerful tool—for clinicians and for families.”
(Newswise/SP)