Device Unveiled At Oklahoma Hospital Helps Disabled Infants

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Crawling is an essential part in a baby's development, but many infants with cerebral palsy are unable to crawl.

That can have lifelong consequences. So, researchers at OU Health Sciences Center are doing a study to see if a skateboard-like robotic device can change that.

But it's more than just a platform with wheels. It has high-tech sensors that gather information about the infants learning and mobility patterns.

Researchers are testing babies with and without cerebral palsy..

"She really liked it," said Natalie Lyles, a mother of a child in the study. "It took her a couple of time to really start figuring it out,  but just watching the patterns of it, of her learning, was really amazing."

If the device works for babies with the condition, researchers think it might also help infants with other developmental disabilities like down syndrome.