WMS supporter, Dr Valeria Ricotti MRCPCH, MRCPI, MD(Res), has been featured for her outstanding work in AI-derived biomarkers to assist in the diagnosis and progression of NMD.

Researchers and clinicians have combined their expertise in order to monitor the progression of two rare movement disorders, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Friedreich's ataxia (FA).

Data collected from patients wearing a motion capture bodysuit, similar to those used to bring characters to life in blockbusters such as Avatar, were assessed by an AI tool that created a unique profile of movement and were found to identify movement markers that indicated a child has DMD.

This technology significantly improved predictions of how a patients’ disease would progress over six months, making clinical trials more efficient, allowing access to novel therapies faster.

Dr Valeria Ricotti explains: "Our work is an example of what a coloration across fields can yield for the benefit of patients and drug development.

Our AI-derived biomarkers co-developed for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Friedrich Ataxia with Dr Aldo Faisal and team at Imperial College are capable of accurately detecting the disease stage and predict the disease progression six months into the future.

This sensor-based system uses data from spontaneous, natural movement, captured during game time or having a meal while in hospital (21 DMD boys and 17 healthy age-matched boys were involved in the study at Great Ormond Street Hospital.)

Although our markers still require work to be validated with regulators, due to their accuracy in prediction they hold potential to accelerate drug development by reducing the overall number of patients needed to achieve significant results to approve a new drug."

Read the full reports:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64326125

https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/news/combining-expertise-for-more-efficient-clinical-trials-of-the-future/