Computer-based analysis of general movements reveals stereotypies predicting cerebral palsy.

Aim: To evaluate a kinematic paradigm of automatic general movements analysis in comparison to clinical assessment in 3-month-old infants and its prediction for neurodevelopmental outcome.

Method: Preterm infants at high risk (n=49; 26 males, 23 females) and term infants at low risk (n=18; eight males, 10 females) of developmental impairment were recruited from hospitals around Heidelberg, Germany. Kinematic analysis of general movements by magnet tracking and clinical video-based assessment of general movements were performed at 3 months of age.

Kinematic assessment of stereotypy in spontaneous movements in infants.

Movement variation constitutes a crucial feature of infant motor development. Reduced variation of spontaneous infant movements, i.e.

Compensation of large motion sensor displacements during long recordings of limb movements.

In motion capture applications using electromagnetic tracking systems the process of anatomical calibration associates the technical frames of sensors attached to the skin with the human anatomy. Joint centers and axes are determined relative to these frames. A change of orientation of the sensor relative to the skin renders this calibration faulty.

Quantification of the segmental kinematics of spontaneous infant movements.

This article introduces a method to capture the movements of the upper and the lower limb of infants using an electromagnetic tracking system and to reliably calculate the segmental kinematics. Analysis of the spontaneous movements of infants is important e.g.