Smart jumpsuit produces growth charts of infants' motor performance
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Researchers at the University of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University Hospital have built normative growth charts for infants' gross motor development using measurements made in the children's own homes. In the study, 92 typically developing infants ages 4–19 months wore the MAIJU smart jumpsuit during free play, producing 580 measurements and 1,227 hours of data covering activities from lying on the floor to walking fluently.
The work is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Until now, a child's movement abilities could be assessed only by eye, either through parental reports or an assessment carried out by a professional. Both are highly subjective and qualitative.
"Alongside the anatomical growth charts for height, weight and head circumference, it is now possible to build functional growth charts. That has long been hoped for," says professor Leena Haataja of the University of Helsinki and HUS.
The MAIJU jumpsuit has four movement sensors, one on each limb. A fully automatic deep-learning model analyzes the data second by second and identifies the child's postures and movements. From these, the researchers derived 220 different motor metrics and computed a normative growth chart for each.
The charts were then tested on a separate group of 39 children undergoing neurological developmental follow-up for various clinical reasons. Altogether, 121 of the 220 motor metrics were significantly different in infants with abnormal neurological development.
Development is gradual, not a series of leaps
The results also provide a more detailed picture of how early development typically proceeds. Motor skills did not appear in sudden jumps, as developmental milestone assessments assume.
"Development is for the most part a gradual shift toward a growing repertoire of skills, which are interwoven with the child's broader neurocognitive and social development," says professor Sampsa Vanhatalo of the University of Helsinki and HUS.
Motor development matters because it is closely connected with cognitive, communicative and social development. It is also one of the few aspects of early development that can be compared across countries and cultures.
The same measurement works in a Finnish and a Malawian home
Because the measurement is made in the child's home environment by parents and analyzed automatically, results from different parts of the world can be compared directly. The research group is currently compiling a comparison between Finland and Malawi.
"Gross motor performance is one of the few things through which a child's neurological development can be assessed in much the same way anywhere in the world. There are thousands of wearable devices available, but we do not know of another that can assess an infant's motor performance quantitatively at this level of detail," says associate professor Manu Airaksinen of the University of Helsinki and HUS.
"The effects of early treatments or therapies on the early neurodevelopment of an individual child have been very difficult to demonstrate with certainty. This method provides an objective tool for setting concrete, measurable targets and following them as the child develops," Vanhatalo says.
The MAIJU system is currently a research tool and is not yet available as a medical device.
Publication details
Manu Airaksinen et al, At-home wearable measurements provide detailed growth charts of infant early gross motor development, Science Translational Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adz7035
Journal information: Science Translational Medicine
Clinical categories
PediatricsNeurologyChildren's health Provided by University of Helsinki Who's behind this story?
Swati Mestri
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