Paralysis Predicting Wearable Technology

London researchers combine wearable tech with AI technology to help predict the progression of DMD and Friedreich’s ataxia.

05:34 03 February 2023

London researchers have developed a technology that could help people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). By combining movement data gathered from wearable tech with a new medical AI technology, scientists are able to identify movement patterns and predict the progression of the said diseases. 

Researchers from the Great Ormond Hospital, Imperial College London and University College London are working together to trial a sensor suit in children with DMD. Meanwhile, for the FA study, teams from the UCLA Institute of Neurology, the Ataxia Centre and Imperial College London worked with patients to predict genetic markers of the disease. 

Artificial intelligence was then used in both studies to help create digital avatars to enable scientists to define key movement fingerprints of those with the medical condition and compare the data gathered with those from the control group. 

Professor Richard Festenstein, from the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College, said: “Patients want to know how their disease is progressing, and motion-capture technology combined with AI could help to provide this information.”