If your child has cerebral palsy, understanding exactly how it affects their walking is crucial for getting the right therapy and treatment decisions. The problem is that the gold standard for gait assessment—3D motion capture technology—is expensive and not widely available in most clinics, especially across Southeast Asia.
A new study in Frontiers in Public Health tested a simpler, more accessible approach: combining video observations with artificial intelligence to assess how children walk.
AI can identify gait patterns from smartphone video
Researchers used the Edinburgh Visual Gait Score (EVGS), a checklist that trained professionals use to observe and score a child's walking from standard video recordings. They paired this with machine learning—a type of artificial intelligence—to classify different gait patterns.
The results were promising. When doctors made specific, detailed observations (such as how high a child lifts their knee or their ankle position during walking), the AI model correctly identified gait patterns about 64% of the time. Even more importantly, the system achieved 89% accuracy for identifying certain severe gait patterns—exactly the information clinicians need to decide on the right treatment approach.
No expensive equipment needed—just a phone and trained observation
The real advantage? This method doesn't require motion-capture labs, specialized equipment, or expensive technology. It needs only a smartphone, a trained eye to use the checklist, and a computer algorithm. These tools are increasingly available even in resource-limited settings across Asia.
For families in Singapore and across the region, this could mean faster initial assessments without long waits for specialist appointments or high costs for advanced testing. A local physiotherapist or pediatrician could use video scoring as a preliminary screening tool, or send recordings to a specialist for AI-assisted analysis—bridging the gap between local access and specialist expertise.
This is a first step, not a complete replacement
It's important to understand that this approach isn't meant to replace comprehensive gait assessment. Rather, it's a helpful screening tool that can guide which children need more detailed evaluation and help clinicians choose the best rehabilitation strategies.
- Ask your physiotherapist whether they use video-based gait assessment tools to monitor your child's progress over time.
- Keep recordings of your child walking at home to share with your specialist for preliminary assessment between clinic visits.
- Discuss with your doctor whether this screening approach could reduce the number of expensive specialist appointments your child needs.