Shriners Hospital for Children Sacramento

Motion analysis is helping Shriners patients improve mobility

Technology helps doctors better treat children with cerebral palsy

Sacramento Business Journal by Kathy Robertson, Senior Staff Writer

 August 24, 2012,

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Dennis McCoy | Sacramento Business Journal

Shriners hospital kinesiologist Kyria Petuskey places motion sensors on patient Jaylah Granderson.

Kathy Robertson

Senior Staff Writer- Sacramento Business Journal

The technology that put expression into the faces of extra-terrestrial beings in the 2009 hit film “Avatar” is being used at Shriners Hospital in Sacramento to help kids with cerebral palsy become more mobile.

Motion sensors — like those used to help animators — are placed on children with cerebral palsy, allowing cameras to track their gait. Computers then analyze the pictures and measure deviation from normal.

For about $600 to $700 — the same cost as an MRI of a knee — motion analysis gives doctors a picture of how the muscles and bones are functioning. This helps them