Researchers and students of the Institute of Neurobiology (INB) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Campus Juriquilla developed a method to timely diagnose brain damage in newborns.

The project led by Physiotherapist Felipe Martinez Matehuala, who is studying his PhD in biomedical sciences, and supported by the technical manager of the University Biomechanics Laboratory of the UNAM, Adrian Jephthah Elias Jimenez, aims to evaluate newborns with risk factors of brain damage. This study is part of the research protocol called ‘Development of methods for early diagnosis and treatment of infants with prenatal and perinatal factors of risk’, carried out in Neurodevelopmental Research Unit (NRU) Dr. Augusto Fernández Guardiola at the UNAM’s Institute of Neurobiology, and led by researcher Thalía Harmony Baillet.

Brain plasticity

Martinez Matehuala said that evaluating children during the first months is very complex because, if they show any sequel of brain injury, won’t be until the maximum period of brain plasticity has passed.

“During the first months of life, the human being has maximum brain plasticity. That means we are in a stage where advances in therapy are most evident, but it is difficult to make an assessment. Given the above, the need to create new specific diagnostic tools for those early postnatal months arises,” Martinez Matehuala explained.

The UNAM researcher said that this project is based on the technique of Katona Neurohabilitation, used in the NRU’s protocol.

“In the first months, humans show some movement patterns, which are stereotyped and innate and precursors of crawling, marching and head control. What we do here, at the University Biomechanics Laboratory, is measuring how babies reproduce this pattern. On the one hand, we look at babies who have normal neurodevelopment and with them we create a standard or database; and then we evaluate others who have risk factors for brain damage; with this we compare the development of both groups,” he said.

The researcher characterized the risk factors for brain damage in babies in prenatal, perinatal and postnatal. “Among the prenatal [risk factors], there are intrauterine growth restriction and metabolic disorders in the mother. Regarding the perinatal, the most common are asphyxia or prematurity. And as postnatal, there is hyperbilirubinemia. This does not necessarily mean that the baby will have consequences or brain damage, but the possibility is latent, so it is a candidate to be evaluated and receive treatment,” he said.

Martinez Matehuala said they are currently working with two groups of babies, some who are treated in the NRU’s research protocol and a control group of babies with normal development from hospitals or private clinics.

Accurate and Timely Diagnosis

Regarding the technology used for this system, Martinez Matehuala explained that the University Biomechanics Laboratory has 11 cameras that emit infrared light focused on a therapy table where the baby is evaluated, and markers are placed under a biomechanical model with optoreflective sensors.

“That infrared light is not part of the spectrum of the human eye, so we cannot see the light they reflect. However, if at least three cameras reflect the same marker, its position can be triangulated in a three dimensional space. It provides information X-Y-Z, 250 times per second. It does the same than satellites to cell phones to get Global Positioning System (GPS) information,” he said.

For this, Martinez Matehuala designed a biomechanical model which determines how many markers should be used, what anatomical positions and type of marker should be employed for the study.

“During the study, anthropometric measurements to the baby are also made; and with the markers, we can calculate or predict the mass centers of each rigid segment or each joint around the baby’s body: from the head, trunk —divided into two segments –, shoulders, elbows, hips, pelvis, knees and ankles. Once we have this projection we can generate local bases or reference centers. With this, we get very accurate calculations; the cameras have a margin of error of two microns, which is very low. In addition we filter it to have cleaner signals“, he said.

Once you have this angular information, a computer program allows observing the markers in three-dimensional space.

“With these elements we can tell the computer program where the maneuver starts and finishes and important events. That creates cycles of the baby’s movements, allowing us to average them. The cycle gives more accurate information on how the baby is moving“, he said.

Martinez Matehuala said that babies start the study from their first month of life and they do four evaluations for five months, which determines how they stick to the standard and longitudinally observe how babies are acquiring the patterns over time.

The final goal is developing a diagnostic tool for clinic implementation once they have all the information in the babies’ movement patterns.

 

Source: Agencia Informativa CONACYT