The motion-capture suits that brought characters to life in movies like Avatar are helping researchers track down the occurrence of diseases that affect movement.
In many cases, the sooner such conditions are assessed, the sooner the patient can receive appropriate support and treatment.
British experts measured the severity of two genetic disorders twice as fast as the best doctors in tests.
It could also halve the time and significantly reduce the costs required to develop new drugs in clinical trials, the researchers say.
Dr Valeria Ricotti, from the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, told BBC News she was “totally blown away by the results”.
“The implications for diagnosing a wide range of diseases and developing new drugs are absolutely enormous.”
Dr. Ricotti was part of a team of researchers from Imperial College London and University College London who spent 10 years developing the new technology.
They tested it on patients with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in two separate studies. The researchers say it could also be used to monitor patients recovering from other conditions that affect movement.
These include any diseases of the brain and nervous system, heart, lungs, muscles, bones, and many mental disorders.
Tracking the severity and possible progression of such diseases often involves measuring the speed and accuracy with which patients can perform a standardized set of movements in the clinic. This assessment, which is critical in determining what support and treatment a patient needs, can take years.
Motion capture systems can do this faster and more accurately, according to two studies published Thursday. It was adapted from a technique filmmakers used to capture the movements of actors in the Avatar films to create realistic aliens on screen.
Professor Aldo Faisal of Imperial College, one of the scientists who came up with the idea, said it was a huge step forward.
“Our new method can detect subtle movements that are imperceptible to humans,” he said. “It has the potential to transform clinical trials and improve patient diagnosis and monitoring.”
FA usually presents during adolescence and affects 1 in 50,000 people, while DMD affects 20,000 children worldwide, mostly boys, each year. There is currently no cure for either.
A team at Imperial College London has tested a motion-sensing suit for the first time on patients with FA. They found that AI could predict how a disease would progress over a period of 12 months, half the time experts normally take.
An independent team in Great Ormond Street tested the technology on 21 boys aged 5 to 18 with DMD. It predicted how their exercise would affect the next six months more accurately than doctors.
The researchers believe their system could be used to speed up and reduce the cost of clinical trials of new drugs for a variety of conditions.
Professor Paola Giunti, head of UCL’s Ataxia Center, said: “We will be able to test more drugs on fewer patients at a lower cost.”
In the case of DMD, at least 100 patients over a period of approximately 18 months are required to obtain statistically significant results related to the efficacy of a new drug. The study showed that 15 patients could be treated for six months with the new system.
About 6,000 rare genetic diseases affect about 1 in 17 people in the UK. The number of patients with each disease may be only a few hundred or less. This prevents pharmaceutical companies from conducting costly clinical trials to develop new drugs to treat them.
Professor Richard Festenstein of the Medical Research Council’s Institute of Medical Sciences in London told BBC News that applying the technology was his idea and could change the economics of drug development.
“This will attract the pharmaceutical industry to invest in the fight against rare diseases,” he said. “The main beneficiaries of our research will be patients, as this technology will allow new treatments to be offered faster.”
Researchers are already seeking approval for a drug trial using motion capture for FA and DMD, which, if successful, could begin within two years. They also collect data on the treatment of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.
Why spy balloons are still so useful in the age of drones.Video Why spy balloons are still so useful in the age of drones
A teenager cycling from Alaska to Argentina. Video of a teenager cycling from Alaska to Argentina
© 2023 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Learn about our approach to external links.
Post time: Feb-17-2023