MyCP Webinar: Artificial Intelligence and Cerebral Palsy Research

This MyCP webinar features Zachary Vesoulis, MD, MSCI who described the Cerebral Palsy Research Network’s initial exploration into using artificial intelligence (AI) to make new discoveries in cerebral palsy (CP). Dr. Vesoulis discussed how we are planning to apply the AI concept of “deep learning,” a model that processes information similar to the human brain. This method would be applied to both our CP registry and brain images to predict outcomes in CP. Dr. Vesoulis, a neonatologist at Washington University in St. Louis and a researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has developed a plan to use the network’s large cache of brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) to discover previously unseen relationships between MRIs of the brain and clinical findings in our registry. These relationships may allow us to better understand and perhaps predict different aspects of CP like issues with muscle tone or the type of movement disorder that may affect the individual, or common co-morbidities like epilepsy, learning difficulties, or vision impairment.
Dr. Vesoulis joined forces with network Chief Executive Paul Gross to develop the study. While Dr. Vesoulis has expertise in neuroimaging, this study involves significant expertise in and infrastructure for implementing the deep learning model of AI. Gross’s roots at Microsoft have led to interest from Microsoft’s AI for Health team. And the University of Pittsburgh, where our data center is hosted, has significant AI experience to address the needs of the project. Other academic centers have expressed interest in collaborating in this next generation type of research as well.