The Shriners Children’s US network of non-profit children’s hospitals has become the largest paediatric motion analysis centre in the world.

For more than 40 years, Shriners Children’s has been using motion analysis technology, similar to what you might find in a Hollywood movie, in each of its 14 motion analysis centres. Motion analysis helps physicians determine the best treatment methods for children with movement differences caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy, scoliosis, brachial plexus or sports injuries. Now, the healthcare system is making a change that it hopes will lead to even better patient outcomes and research advances.

It is digitally integrating all 14 of its motion analysis labs across the country, making it the largest unified paediatric motion analysis centre in the world.

Shriners Children’s vice president Marc Lalande said the change would make it easier for doctors across their entire healthcare system to share data, learn from past patient experiences, inform future care decisions and perform research.

“This is truly a ground-breaking advancement for Shriners Children’s because it means that patients, doctors, physical therapists, engineers and other Shriners Children’s staff can now analyse thousands of new data points and previous paediatric cases to make the most informed decisions on how they treat children, regardless of which hospital they were treated at,” said Lalande. “While that may have been possible before, it was a more cumbersome process and we didn’t have a unified, overarching system for how we process all of those data and qualify them. This is the type of change that will eventually open the doors for more innovative research and discoveries. It will truly improve the lives of our patients so we’re very excited about what’s in store.”

Motion analysis is a technology that uses data to help analyse how a child walks and moves. Shriners Children’s uses high-speed cameras, reflective markers, force platforms and muscle sensors to record a child’s movement patterns. The data are then analysed using computer-generated imagery similar to what you might see in a video game, to model the child’s gait and allow doctors to compare it with a patient without a gait difference.

Shriners Children’s corporate director Ross Chafetz said the technology allowed doctors to pinpoint exactly where the problem was and more accurately determine the best course of treatment.

“With our new integrated system, when a patient comes in needing knee surgery, the doctor will be able to access data from all 14 labs across our system, look at similar cases and gain knowledge about what treatment option might be best for that child,” Chafetz said. “This also allow us to tell patients the surgeries we would recommend and, equally as important, when we wouldn’t recommend surgery at all. Sometimes the data tell us the patient just needs time to grow, and it’s not as bad as we thought. Motion labs are a service many healthcare systems aren’t able to offer because it can be a timely and cost-prohibitive process, but Shriners Children’s has been a leader in this area for a long time, so we felt like this was an important step forward in how we continue delivering the most innovative care.”

Chafetz said, as this technology continued to improve, he envisioned a future where developments in its centres could be spread to all corners of the world, helping millions of children in different countries.

“Using artificial intelligence, Shriners Children’s is actively leading research on the use of cell phone cameras to evaluate movement in children with disabilities,” he said. “This allows us to remotely evaluate children, providing them access to a powerful tool that otherwise would not be available.”

Vedant Kulkarni, Shriners Children’s (www.shrinerschildrens.org) assistant chief of orthopaedics, said he considered the data provided by motion analysis to be a crucial part of his care plan for children.

“I think it’s the ultimate precision medicine,” Kulkarni said. “In a clinical setting, it’s hard to grasp all the possibilities of the gait, and you’re not able to see all the problems that are occurring with just the eyes. We’re doing things at the highest level possible, and access to sources like motion analysis centres is what sets Shriners Children’s apart.”

At the motion analysis centres, 18 infra-red cameras track the child’s movements while four force plates record ground reaction forces. This information is translated into a 3D computer model of the patient walking. The motion capture camera system detects the motions of all the joints and activity of all the muscles, and overall efficiency of walking that cannot be seen with the naked eye. For more information see www.shrinerschildrens.org/en/pediatric-care/motion-analysis.