Movidea: A Software Package for Automatic Video Analysis of Movements in Infants at Risk for Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Abstract

Early detecting the presence of neurodevelopmental disorders plays an important role in the effectiveness of the treatment. In this paper, we present a novel tool to extract motion features using single camera video recordings of infants. The Movidea software was developed to allow the operator to track the movement of end-effectors of infants in free moving conditions and extract movement features automatically. Movidea was used by different operators to analyze a set of video recordings and its performance was evaluated. The results showed that Movidea performance did not vary with the operator, and the tracking was also stable in home-video recordings. Even if the setup allowed for a two-dimensional analysis, most of the informative content of the movement was maintained. The reliability of the measures and features extracted, as well as the easiness of use, may boost the uptake of the proposed solution in clinical settings. Movidea overcomes the current limitation in the clinical practice in early detection of neurodevelopmental disorders by providing objective measures based on reliable data, and adds a new tool for the motor analysis of infants through unobtrusive technology.