Robotic System to Motivate Spontaneous Infant Kicking for Studies in Early Detection of Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study

The spontaneous kicking patterns of infants can provide markers that may predict the trajectory of their future development. Atypical kicking patterns may forecast the possibility of developmental disorders like Cerebral Palsy. Early intervention and physical therapy that encourages the practice of proper kicking motions can help to improve the outcomes in these scenarios. We introduce a system that utilizes computer vision and a robotic infant mobile to detect spontaneous kicking patterns and activate different stimuli provided by the mobile. The hypothesis is that the combination of stimuli will encourage the continuation of kicking actions. This would help with studies in infant motor development and identify at-risk populations. Additionally, the system is designed for in-home use based on its space-invariant approach to changes in the environment. In this paper, we detail the design of the robotic system, discuss the preliminary results of deploying the system in an infant’s home environment and the effect it has on the frequency of kicking actions.