Motor Development of Premature Infants

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a fully automated, wireless sensor-based toolkit for infants that can capture early indicators (0-3 months) of motor deficits during activities of daily life and track motor development over the course of one year. The investigators expect that the participating child will be in this research study for up to 12-24 months corrected-age depending on which group the participating child is recruited into. The main benefit of being in this study is to help monitor the participating child's motor development. The investigators will place up to 6 sensors on the participants body and head to observe the participants child's movement. Caregivers will also be trained to place the sensors. The sensors will send movement information wirelessly to an iPad or smartphone, using Bluetooth technology.

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of preterm gestational age, birth weight and perinatal risks factors on gross motor development of preterm infants. We will compare the data of infants evaluated by the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) and the Perinatal Risk Inventory (PERI) in an Infant Development and Early Intervention Center (IDEIC).

There are planing to have 2 groups of premature born cases. Each group will include 15 cases. Participants are need to be 28-37 weeks born and no older than post term 6 weeks. All cases are going to be evaluated. Home based exercise plan is going to be explained. The experimental group is going to take 6 osteopathic sessions weekly. After 6 weeks cases are going to be evaluated again.