18 February, 2019

Enable Ireland and Cork Institute of Technology have announced the availability of a specialised 3-D gait analysis service for children with complex physical disabilities in Cork and Kerry. This was a special project and the brainchild of Daithi Fallon, Head of Department in CIT.

Prior to this development, children and families had to travel to Dublin to avail of this highly specialised medical assessment service, which can only be provided in a gait laboratory.

Children who can avail of this new service include those with disabilities at risk of scoliosis or other neuromuscular impairments. This new collaboration with the Department of Mechanical Biomedical and Manufacturing Engineering in CIT means that 3-D gait analysis for these children can now be provided locally.

International best practice recommends gait analysis before and after orthopaedic intervention for children with physical disabilities. The introduction of 3-D gait analysis will lead to better management of care, overall costs savings and improved clinical outcomes for these children.

Ger Cunningham’s son David, 11, has Cerebral Palsy and attends Enable Ireland services in the Lavanagh Centre in Cork. Mr Cunningham said that having the 3-D gait analysis has made a massive difference for David. "Before the scan, we thought David needed orthopaedic surgery for his bones but the gait analysis was able to tell us that David’s difficulties were muscle related.

"The scan identified precisely where and which muscle groups were causing the issues. These areas will be injected with Botox to loosen the muscles, followed by intensive physiotherapy with the Enable Ireland team in Cork." Mr Cunningham said they are expecting enhanced results from the treatment for David and, because they know the difficulties are muscle related, David’s recovery time will be reduced to one-third of a 'bone' recovery time.

"He’s always been a very strong and determined boy, it’s so important to be able to have this kind of facility available for him in Cork”, Mr Cunningham added.

Currently, the Enable Ireland team are providing the 3-D analysis with the support of CIT and hope to secure long-term funding for this essential service in the future from the HSE.

If you would like to collaborate with CIT get in touch. Email extendedcampus@cit.ie or call 021 4335302.