NEW RESEARCH IN PERSONALISED
MEDICINE BASED ON ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE TO BETTER DEFINE
TAILOR MADE REHABILITATION PATHS
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a condition that is estimated to
involve 17 million individuals in the world, representing
the consequence of a brain damage which can occur
during intrauterine life, at the time of birth or shortly the
reafter. Although this condition often expresses a wide
variety of symptoms, regarding, among others, senso
rial, perceptual, cognitive and communicative skills, as
well as associated disorders which impact sleep, pain,
learning abilities and in general everyday life functioning,
the most noticeable feature is the motor impairment.
The impact on motor functioning defines the clinical form
of CP, which can be described as: spastic form (stiffness),
which represents the most diffused one; dyskinetic form
(involuntary movements) or ataxic form (impaired coor
dination). The motor impairment can interest different
body parts and each situation defines a different form
of spastic form of CP: hemiplegia / unilateral cerebral
palsy (main involvement of one side the body), diple
gia (main involvement of the lower limbs) or tetraplegia
(involvement of all limbs). In addition to the complexity
of its manifestations, the diagnosis of CP often comes
late. Children with CP need a personalized and inten
sive rehabilitation program, to be started early based
on a detailed assessment of their functional abilities, a
scenario that is not always realistic. This condition can
have a significant economic impact, typical of perma
nent disabilities. With exception of other complications,
people with CP have a similar life expectancy to that of
the general population and a part of them can have a
job and be financially independent. On the other hand,
there are many people with CP who require high level
of assistance, but they can be supported, although par
tially, by assistive technologies to overcome the disabling
barriers of the living context.
The AINCP project
The AINCP project is the largest European research
project funded by the European Union within the HORI
ZON HLTH 2021 DISEASE 04 program in the field of
personalized medicine for people with unilateral cere
bral palsy. The duration of the project is five years overall
from June 2022 to May 2027. The project acronym
AINCP means clinical validation of Artificial Intelligence
for providing a personalized motor clinical profile asses
sment and rehabilitation of upper limb in children with
unilateral Cerebral Palsy. The project aims to validate
new artificial intelligence algorithms for functional dia
gnosis and personalized tele rehabilitation of children
with unilateral cerebral palsy. The goal is to create more
advanced tools to understand children’s daily diffi
culties, and to better define tailor made rehabilitation
paths, with a sustainable approach from both ethical and
economic point of views. For this goal, AINCP is valida
ting new functional assessment tools, more advanced
than the scales currently in use, which will allow doc
tors to obtain a more comprehensive view of children’s
limitations in daily life and to personalize rehabilitation
programs based on their individual needs.
