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Zakariya and his Gillette physical therapist use the results of a recent gait and motion analysis to work on improving his walking and strength.
The James R. Gage Center for Gait and Motion Analysis continues to gather important data to improve care for people who have cerebral palsy (CP) and receive care at Gillette Children’s Cerebral Palsy Institute.
Founded in 1987 by a group of innovative Gillette providers, research scientists, and bioengineers, the “gait lab” has helped thousands of people who have CP reach their full potential when it comes to walking and movement.
Zakariya works with a Gillette Children's physical therapist who has designed a therapy program based on the results of a gait and motion analysis.
Considered to be one of the top gait and motion centers in the world
Gillette clinical scientist, Mike Schwartz, PhD, has been part of gait analysis center for 28 years and is proud of how he and his colleagues have revolutionized cerebral palsy care.
“There’s one entity of Gillette that’s truly number one in the world without a question,” Dr. Schwartz says. “The Center for Gait and Motion Analysis here is, and has been for decades, considered to be the top center in the world. As a result of our pioneering work and cutting-edge technology, we get inquiries pretty much every day from people at institutions around the world asking for advice.”
People who come to Gillette for a gait analysis wear small reflective sensors that are detected by special cameras positioned throughout the lab area to record how they move. In addition, people sometimes wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth to help measure oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. This information helps to determine how much energy is required to walk—something of particular interest to individuals living with cerebral palsy.
Information critical to data driven decision making for care
The lab’s current clinical director, Gillette orthopedic surgeon, Andrew Georgiadis, MD, says the gait lab is a valuable resource because it provides technical information that is critical for data driven decision making.
Dr. Georgiadis says many of the people who come to Gillette for a gait analysis have a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, spina bifida or a rare disease. He says the high-tech tools in the gait lab measure how body segments and joints work.
“These diagnostic tools are important,” Dr. Georgiadis says. “That’s because there are so many things we can’t directly appreciate with our eyes and hands. The information we get from the technology here makes a difference.”
NIH grants for research and innovation
Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Georgiadis report a lot of exciting new work is happening in the gait lab thanks, in part, to donor support and grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
One of the NIH grants allows researchers to investigate the use of a lightweight, body-worn, exoskeleton for people who have walking challenges.
“It’s not quite like Iron Man,” Dr. Schwartz jokes. “It’s a scaled down version of that. The patient wears a battery pack, and the device goes on the lower legs and can help a person walk. It can propel them, provide resistance, and help to build strength.”
Another NIH grant funded research project examines “adaptive capacity.” Dr. Schwartz explains this that people who have cerebral palsy often can’t react quickly or adapt their gait to bumps or uneven pavement when walking. This causes people to fall or trip. This study does not explicity aim to reduce falls but provides auditory and visual feedback during walking to see if this improves movement.
The third NIH funded study is projected to wrap up in June 2025 and it examines energy use in walking for children who have cerebral palsy.
“Children with cerebral palsy tend to use a lot more energy to walk. It can be two to three times as much as is typical,” Dr. Schwartz explains.
He adds that the amount of energy a child who has cerebral palsy expends while walking is similar to the energy someone who does not have CP expends when jogging or climbing stairs.
“I think anyone can imagine the kind of impact that has on your quality of life, your mental state, your happiness,” Dr. Schwartz says. “A big goal of ours is often to figure out ways to lower that energy use through treatments or therapies.”
Using artificial intelligence (AI) and cell phone videos in the future
The James R. Gage Gait and Motion Analysis Center has been collecting information from patients since 1987 and has a database that includes more than 50,000 people. Researchers and providers from around the world have used this information to improve care and treatment.
Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Georgiadis are excited about the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to bring new ways to examine the information in the database and for the possibility of AI being used to assist doctors in future gait and motion analysis.
A team at Gillette is also working on the possibility of using video from a cellphone to help determine if a child would benefit from a visit to the gait lab and Gillette.
“That would mean a family in Willmar, Minot, or anywhere in the world could take a cell phone video of a child, upload it to Gillette in a private, safe manner, and we could then analyze that video and get reasonable estimates of the gait pattern that would essentially work as a screening tool,” Dr. Schwartz says.
Gillette's mission to help children improve mobility and quality of life
The Medical Director of Gillette’s Cerebral Palsy Institute, orthopedic surgeon, Tom Novacheck, MD, leads a team of more than 140 experts in pediatric complex care, orthopedics, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), sleep management, pain management, prosthetics, seating and other services.
Dr. Novacheck is proud of how Gillette and the gait and motion laboratory are transforming what is possible for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
“Families come here because they recognize that we use data from the gait lab analysis to drive decisions,” Dr. Novacheck says.
Dr. Georgiadis agrees and says, “Gillette has a very unusual and unique place in the world. I think there isn’t a hospital that has quite the same focus, quite the same mission, and is quite the same size.”
Gillette Children's Cerebral Palsy Institute shines
Gillette began the Cerebral Palsy Institute about three years ago with a focus on research, clinic treatment innovations and advocacy for people living with cerebral palsy.
“The Cerebral Palsy Institute means many things to different people,” Dr. Schwartz says. “It’s really a way to bring expertise and attention together at Gillette to focus on the issues that matter most to patients and their families. “
Dr. Georgiadis says the focus of the Institute and the mission of Gillette helps drive innovation. “Everyone here is has met kids with cerebral palsy or spina bifida and so we have these multidisciplinary clinics where everyone’s comfortable, everyone has experience seeing these patients,” Dr. Georgiadis says. “We’re quite good a communicating with one another about the care for those patients.”
This close collaboration means ideas, treatment options, and research are constantly being discussed by experts throughout Gillette. Dr. Georgiadis adds “this sharing of ideas leads to many innovations and people around the world look to Gillette for leadership in cerebral palsy care. “
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