A Smart Monitoring System for Self-Nutrition Management in Pediatric Patients with Inherited Metabolic Disorders: Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD)

Abstract

A metabolic disorder is due to a gene mutation that causes an enzyme deficiency which leads to metabolism problems. Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is one of the most common and severe hereditary metabolic disorders in Saudi Arabia. Patients and families were burdened by complex and regular dietary therapy menus because of the lack of information on food labels, it was also difficult to keep track of MSUD’s typical diet. The prototype smart plate system proposed in this work may help patients with MSUD and their caregivers better manage the patients’ MSUD diet. The use of knowledge-based, food identification techniques and a device could provide a support tool for self-nutrition management in pediatric patients. The requirements of the system are specified by using questionaries. The design of the prototype is divided into two parts: software (mobile application) and hardware (3D model of the plate). The knowledge-based mobile application contains knowledge, databases, inference, food recognition, food plan, monitor food plan, and user interfaces. The hardware prototype is represented in a 3D model. All the patients agreed that a smart plate system connected to a mobile application could help to track and record their daily diet. A self-management application can help MSUD patients manage their diet in a way that is more pleasant, effortless, accurate, and intelligent than was previously possible with paper records. This could support dietetic professional practitioners and their patients to achieve sustainable results.