Service Description

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common motor disorder in children, affecting more than 2-3 in every 1000 live births. Impaired gait is one of the most debilitating effects of CP. The patient, the clinician as well as the family/carers need to know if his walking ability improves or deteriorates during therapy. Gait analysis provides the optimal information with which to make treatment decisions and evaluate treatment outcomes. The objective of CP-Watcher project is to develop a wearable system to easily and accurately assess gait in children with CP. Two miniature sensors will be placed on the patient’s arms and allow the clinicians to evaluate patients’ walking ability using a single Gait Score. The adoption of CP-Watcher by the medical community is expected to create a multifaceted impact on the economy and society as a whole. It is estimated that the overall financial cost for the health care system and the society could be decreased significantly, given that the proposed system will help minimize medical costs and the need for continuous expert assistance. Furthermore, by monitoring patients’ walking ability and helping maintain their physical condition, CP-Watcher could provide indirect savings for the national economy by reduction of labour-related losses, lower the emergence of social isolation and be essential for improving the quality of life and well-being of the patients, as well as of their families.