New Video Game for Evaluating Kids With Duchennes

In order to participate in FDA approved clinical trials, children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy need to pass a six-minute walking test. In the hope of including more patients into such studies, scientists at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital have developed a new video game that can be used as a tool for evaluating patients with Duchennes.

In the video game the character on the screen is being attacked by aliens, and by swinging their arms around the players project a shield that protects the character from the attacks.

The game uses a Microsoft Kinect 3D camera that tracks arm movements while a computer analyzes this data that provides details about the children’s reaching ability.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the collective term used to represent genetic disorders characterized by progressive weakening of muscles and wasting of muscle tissue. The term dys refers to abnormal and trophy represents growth.

The term muscular dystrophy refers to inadequate/defective growth of the muscle. Several forms of muscular dystrophy exist, that differ on the basis of clinical symptoms, disease severity and the way in which the disease is transmitted form one generation to the other.

The three most important forms of muscular dystrophy include: Duchenne Muscular dystrophy (DMD), Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy and Myotonic Dystrophy.

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Source-Medindia