A new partnership between Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation and Hearts & Minds Investments will support research intended to revolutionise newborn intensive care.
Australian researchers and health professionals are launching two world-first projects to prevent disability and death in newborns.
The first project, Virtual Baby, will use artificial intelligence (AI) systems that has the potential to give new insights and allow for better treatment of babies in newborn intensive care. It will also fund a second project studying brain damage in newborns with the goal of reducing cerebral palsy, which is the most common physical disability in childhood globally.
The partnership will also enable an innovative research trial into how advanced monitoring of oxygen levels in the brain may assist in protecting newborns from brain injury.
While there are many causes of cerebral palsy, brain injuries in newborns caused by a lack of oxygen are known to be a major contributor. In Australia, 13 out of 14 cases of cerebral palsy occur in the uterus or before one month of age, meaning babies in neonatal intensive care units are at the greatest risk.
See launch video here