App screens newborn babies at risk of cerebral palsy from home

PARENTS of newborn babies most at risk of cerebral palsy can now have their child screened for the physical disability from home.

Tien Polonais with seven-month-old daughter Lexi, using the new app to test for Cerebral Palsy. Picture: Jay Town

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PARENTS of newborns most at risk of cerebral palsy can now have their child screened for it from home.

A diagnosis is now possible from six months of age, down from 19 months, which researchers say will allow for crucial early intervention to rewire the brain.

A new Baby Moves screening app, developed by Royal Women’s Hospital physiotherapist Associate Professor Alicia Spittle, aims to harness the neuroplasticity of the infant brain to maximise the benefits of physiotherapy.

It is being tried on 250 premature babies.

Babies born before 28 weeks, or weighing less than 1kg, are being invited to participate in a trial, which also involves the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the University of Melbourne.

Parents upload a three-minute video of their baby lying on the floor in their nappy, without toys or distractions.

Trained assessors watch the footage to gauge the “fluidity and complexity of movements”.

“We’re looking for the quality of movements,” Prof Spittle said.

“It’s an early window into the baby’s central nervous system, or the way the brain is wired,” she said.

“Traditionally, if we haven’t started interventions until the baby is one or two years old, they’ve already got muscle contractions, spasticity, and the brain has already wired in a way we don’t necessarily want.

“We want to get in early to encourage the brain and muscles to develop as well as they can, and to change their trajectory so they’ll have better functions.”

A version of the app is being developed for use by GPs and other health professionals, and more assessors are being trained.

The researchers are studying 200 babies who were diagnosed early, through the app, to test whether early intervention could improve outcomes.

Tien Polonidis’s daughter Lexi, who weighed 1.08kg when born in January at 27 weeks and five days gestation, took part.

“Even though we could see she was developing well, getting the all-clear from the researchers was a relief,” Ms Polonidis said.