Patients with neuromuscular disease will no longer have to go to the UK for treatment, thanks to an upgrade at a university laboratory so far used mainly for research.

The University of Malta’s Department of Systems and Control Engineering has a laboratory with a state-of-the-art motion capture system that is used for clinical gait analysis.

Gait analysis is used to assess, plan and treat individuals with conditions affecting their ability to walk. It is also commonly used in sports biomechanics to help athletes run more efficiently and to identify posture-related or movement-related problems in people with injuries.

University Rector Juanito Camilleri said the university had invested about €120,000 in the laboratory that focuses on the precise measurement of human motion.

Going abroad means taking the buggy, walker and crutches and travelling for hours to take a 30-minute test

Although it is being used for research purposes through a collaboration agreement signed yesterday with the Health Department, the laboratory will be upgraded and used to treat Maltese patients who suffer from selected neuromuscular conditions.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne noted that, at present, at least one child a month goes abroad for gait analysis treatment. Once the laboratory is upgraded, at a cost of about €50,000, Maltese patients will be able to start using it by the end of this year.

The collaboration between the university and the health authorities will also open up possibilities to work on interdisciplinary research projects involving the clinical and technical disciplines and establish normative baseline gait data for the Maltese.

Bernadette Spiteri, whose son is treated in the UK, welcomed the fact that this would now take place in Malta. “This will be beneficial because it will be less hassle for us. Going abroad means taking the buggy, walker and crutches and travelling for hours to take a 30-minute test,” she said.