Abstract:BackgroundExisting motor pattern assessment methods, such as digital cameras and optoelectronic systems, suffer from object obstruction and require complex setups. To overcome these drawbacks, this paper presents a novel approach for biomechanical evaluation of newborn motor skills development. Multi-sensor measurement system comprising pressure mattress and IMUs fixed on trunk and arms is proposed and used as alternative to existing methods. Observed advantages seem appealing for the focused field and in gene… Show more
“…It was designed to be located in the clinical centres and comprises five video screens and an eye tracker for stimulation and analysis of infant gaze characteristics. Full details of CareToy Clinical are given in Pratesi et al 36 The reader is most kindly invited to review other details of the CareToy platform hardware in Cecchi et al 9 Passetti et al 34 and Rihar et al 38 …”
Section: Interactive Walls Sensorized Toy Archmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Wearable wireless magneto-inertial measurement units (IMU) on trunk and forearms are intended for postural control measurement, as is in full detail also described in Rihar et al 38 Battery powered IMUs that comprise three-dimensional gyroscopes (L3GD20), accelerometers and magnetometers (LSM303DLHC) were developed by STMicroelectronics and are integrated in specially designed bracelets and chest strap. These bracelets have additional dedicated artificial silicone soft covers of neutral beige colour.…”
Section: Caretoy Systemmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…To minimalize the possible effects of potential trunk IMU displacement, trunk IMU orientation data are corrected by taking into account the trunk orientation, estimated from the pressure imprint data. The full sensory data fusion procedure is in detail given in Rihar et al 38 The range of rolling angle from supine to prone and back to supine is 360°. By using the improved trunk orientation information, the rolling range-of-motion (ROM) parameter is calculated for each measurement session as the angular distance between the values of 90th and 10th percentile of the angular rolling data.…”
Section: Rolling Range-of-motion (Rom)mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Floor is covered with two Tekscan pressure mattresses (CONFORMat System, model: 5330) for pressure distribution and infant posture assessment. 38 Each pressure mattress has 1024 force-resistive sensors, whereas pressure data are sampled with 30 Hz.…”
Early intervention programs aim at improving cognitive and motor outcomes of preterm infants. Intensive custom-tailored training activities are usually accompanied by assessment procedures, which have shortcomings, such as subjectivity, complex setups, and need for structured environments. A novel sensorized system, called CareToy, was designed to provide stimulation in the form of goal-directed activity training scenarios and motor pattern assessment of main developmental milestones, such as rolling activity, grasping, and postural stability. A group of 28 differently skilled preterm infants were enrolled. Acquired measurement data were analysed with dedicated sensor data processing algorithms, along with clinical evaluation of motor ability. High correlation among technically determined parameters and Alberta Infant Motor Scale values was determined by Pearson correlation coefficients. Due to good accuracy and possibility of single motor skill subfield analysis, results confirm system suitability for motor ability assessment. Statistical analysis of inter-motor ability group and inter-training goal data comparisons demonstrate system's appropriateness for goal-directed activity stimulation. The proposed system has evident potential of being an important contribution to the field of infant motor development assessment, expanding accessibility of early intervention programs and affecting rehabilitation effectiveness of preterm infants.
“…It was designed to be located in the clinical centres and comprises five video screens and an eye tracker for stimulation and analysis of infant gaze characteristics. Full details of CareToy Clinical are given in Pratesi et al 36 The reader is most kindly invited to review other details of the CareToy platform hardware in Cecchi et al 9 Passetti et al 34 and Rihar et al 38 …”
Section: Interactive Walls Sensorized Toy Archmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Wearable wireless magneto-inertial measurement units (IMU) on trunk and forearms are intended for postural control measurement, as is in full detail also described in Rihar et al 38 Battery powered IMUs that comprise three-dimensional gyroscopes (L3GD20), accelerometers and magnetometers (LSM303DLHC) were developed by STMicroelectronics and are integrated in specially designed bracelets and chest strap. These bracelets have additional dedicated artificial silicone soft covers of neutral beige colour.…”
Section: Caretoy Systemmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…To minimalize the possible effects of potential trunk IMU displacement, trunk IMU orientation data are corrected by taking into account the trunk orientation, estimated from the pressure imprint data. The full sensory data fusion procedure is in detail given in Rihar et al 38 The range of rolling angle from supine to prone and back to supine is 360°. By using the improved trunk orientation information, the rolling range-of-motion (ROM) parameter is calculated for each measurement session as the angular distance between the values of 90th and 10th percentile of the angular rolling data.…”
Section: Rolling Range-of-motion (Rom)mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Floor is covered with two Tekscan pressure mattresses (CONFORMat System, model: 5330) for pressure distribution and infant posture assessment. 38 Each pressure mattress has 1024 force-resistive sensors, whereas pressure data are sampled with 30 Hz.…”
Early intervention programs aim at improving cognitive and motor outcomes of preterm infants. Intensive custom-tailored training activities are usually accompanied by assessment procedures, which have shortcomings, such as subjectivity, complex setups, and need for structured environments. A novel sensorized system, called CareToy, was designed to provide stimulation in the form of goal-directed activity training scenarios and motor pattern assessment of main developmental milestones, such as rolling activity, grasping, and postural stability. A group of 28 differently skilled preterm infants were enrolled. Acquired measurement data were analysed with dedicated sensor data processing algorithms, along with clinical evaluation of motor ability. High correlation among technically determined parameters and Alberta Infant Motor Scale values was determined by Pearson correlation coefficients. Due to good accuracy and possibility of single motor skill subfield analysis, results confirm system suitability for motor ability assessment. Statistical analysis of inter-motor ability group and inter-training goal data comparisons demonstrate system's appropriateness for goal-directed activity stimulation. The proposed system has evident potential of being an important contribution to the field of infant motor development assessment, expanding accessibility of early intervention programs and affecting rehabilitation effectiveness of preterm infants.
“…The CareToy system for EI, called CareToy Home is composed by four modules: 1) gym module made of i) a kit of sensorized toys with different shape and size, ii) two interactive walls (feedback wall with embedded sounds and lights), iii) a belt wall with a sensorized pillow, iv) an arch with lights, v) 4 cameras; 2) vision module (screen wall), equipped with a large monitor; 3) mat module with a sensorized mat and three wearable sensors (two bracelets and chest strap) [24, 25] and 4) tele-rehabilitation module that allows the communication between CareToy system and clinical centre (Figure 1A).Figure 1
CareToy for Home and CareToy for Clinics. A , 1) Set up of CareToy for Home ( CareToy H ).…”
BackgroundPreterm infants are at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, including motor, cognitive or behavioural problems, which may potentially be modified by early intervention. The EU CareToy Project Consortium (http://www.caretoy.eu) has developed a new modular system for intensive, individualized, home-based and family-centred early intervention, managed remotely by rehabilitation staff. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) has been designed to evaluate the efficacy of CareToy training in a first sample of low-risk preterm infants.Methods/DesignThe trial, randomised, multi-center, evaluator-blinded, parallel group controlled, is designed according to CONSORT Statement. Eligible subjects are infants born preterm without major complications, aged 3-9 months of corrected age with specific gross-motor abilities defined by Ages & Stages Questionnaire scores. Recruited infants, whose parents will sign a written informed consent for participation, will be randomized in CareToy training and control groups at baseline (T0). CareToy group will perform four weeks of personalized activities with the CareToy system, customized by the rehabilitation staff. The control group will continue standard care. Infant Motor Profile Scale is the primary outcome measure and a total sample size of 40 infants has been established. Bayley-Cognitive subscale, Alberta Infants Motor Scale and Teller Acuity Cards are secondary outcome measures. All measurements will be performed at T0 and at the end of training/control period (T1). For ethical reasons, after this first phase infants enrolled in the control group will perform the CareToy training, while the training group will continue standard care. At the end of open phase (T2) all infants will be assessed as at T1. Further assessment will be performed at 18 months corrected age (T3) to evaluate the long-term effects on neurodevelopmental outcome. Caregivers and rehabilitation staff will not be blinded whereas all the clinical assessments will be performed, videotaped and scored by blind assessors. The trial is ongoing and it is expected to be completed by April 2015.DiscussionThis paper describes RCT methodology to evaluate CareToy as a new tool for early intervention in preterm infants, first contribution to test this new type of system. It presents background, hypotheses, outcome measures and trial methodology.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01990183. EU grant ICT-2011.5.1-287932.
Assessment of spontaneous movements of infants lets trained experts predict neurodevelopmental disorders like cerebral palsy at a very young age, allowing early intervention for affected infants. An automated motion analysis system requires to accurately capture body movements, ideally without markers or attached sensors to not affect the movements of infants. A vast majority of recent approaches for human pose estimation focuses on adults, leading to a degradation of accuracy if applied to infants. Hence, multiple systems for infant pose estimation have been developed. Due to the lack of publicly available benchmark data sets, a standardized evaluation, let alone a comparison of different approaches is impossible. We fill this gap by releasing the Moving INfants In RGB-D (MINI-RGBD) † data set, created using the recently introduced Skinned Multi-Infant Linear body model (SMIL). We map real infant movements to the SMIL model with realistic shapes and textures, and generate RGB and depth images with precise ground truth 2D and 3D joint positions. We evaluate our data set with state-of-the-art methods for 2D pose estimation in RGB images and for 3D pose estimation in depth images. Evaluation of 2D pose estimation results in a PCKh rate of 88.1% and 94.5% (depending on correctness threshold), and PCKh rates of 64.2%, respectively 90.4% for 3D pose estimation. We hope to foster research in medical infant motion analysis to get closer to an automated system for early detection of neurodevelopmental disorders.
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