Shriners Hospital opens high-tech motion analysis centre

MONTREAL – Shriners Hospitals for Children – Canada has inaugurated its Motion Analysis Centre (MAC), a facility that uses state-of-the-art technology to evaluate the functional deficits associated with gait in children and, to a lesser extent, to detect the origin of possible functional deficits.

The new centre was made possible thanks to the support of the Ladies of the Oriental Shrine of North America (LOSNA) from Toronto, during the Exceptional Care for Exceptional Kids Capital Campaign, with their contribution of $500,000.

MAC professional staff members use sensors placed on patients’ bodies and optoelectronic (infrared) cameras. With these technologies it is possible to quantify the child’s movements in space and time.

The team can thereby detect abnormal motion patterns and understand the biomechanical impact of these incorrect movements. An analysis is done before treatment to provide accurate information for treatment options (surgery or physiotherapy, for example). It is also done after the treatment to measure the child’s progress following surgery or therapy.

“Equipped with a set of markers and 10 optoelectronic cameras, force plates for kinetic analysis, electromyograms to quantify muscle activation, an isokinetic dynamometer capable of measuring the forces in various joints, and many other pieces of equipment, this centre is going to allow us to optimize the care offered to patients who require intervention while developing a preventive and cutting-edge approach in pediatric orthopedics,” said Louis-Nicolas Veilleux, Ph.D., head researcher of the centre.

“This new service will allow us to not only improve our ability to diagnose and treat, but also to be part of the many multi-centre studies within the Shriners Hospitals for Children network.”

There will now be two paediatric centers for motion analysis in Quebec: the Marie-Enfant Rehabilitation Centre and Shriners Hospitals for Children – Canada, both located in the Montreal area, but with differing and complementary expertise.

“The Motion Analysis Centre team is multidisciplinary and includes researchers, therapy physicians, kinesiologists, occupational therapists and specialized technicians,” said Reggie Hamdy, M.D., chief of staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children – Canada and director of the centre.

“Everyone will bring their knowledge and understanding to produce much more efficient steps in diagnostics or treatment,” said Dr. Hamdy. “Let’s not forget either that the centre is a member of the SMACnet network, a network that includes the 13 motion analysis centres of the 22 Shriners Hospitals in the United States.”

“We’re going to take a large leap forward,” he asserted.

In the near future, the Motion Analysis Centre will also be used to develop sports medicine, arthritis prevention, therapeutic tools and research. The centre will serve not only the people of Quebec but also the rest of Canada and the northern United States.

For further information, contact Emmanuelle Rondeau, communications and marketing manager, 514 282-6990, erondeau@shrinenet.org.

Source: Laure Moureaux, Communications Officer, 514 282-7222, lmoureaux@shrinenet.org.