Cook Children’s
Care throungh state of the art technology
Established nearly a century ago, Cook Children’s was the first children’s hospital in Fort Worth, TX. Opened with only 30 beds and a promise to provide every child in the area with access to medical care, Cook Children’s become one of the largest and most recognized freestanding children’s health care systems in the southwest US. With its focus on the community and social engagement, Cook Children’s mission is to provide every child and parent not only with the medical care they need, but also with instruments for prevention. Cook Children’s provides care through state-of-the-art technology, such as their motion analysis lab.
Since its opening in June of 2015, the lab has studied a variety of patients with complex movement disorders of both the upper and lower limbs. Diagnoses include cerebral palsy, dystonia, muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, spina bifida, amputees and others. Patients are often studied for tone or orthopedic management. Tone management interventions range widely from Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy, Intrathecal Baclofen Pumps, Deep Brain Stimulation to local chemodenervation and others. Orthopedic considerations can include soft tissue lengthening, tendon transfers or bony management.
We also collaborate closely with orthotists for bracing recommendations or tuning, as well as with therapists for therapy recommendations or equipment evaluations. The lab also offers sports-specific studies for performance enhancement, injury prevention or return to sport. It is our intention to not only offer treatment recommendations to preserve function, but to also be proactive in the multidisciplinary management of our patients, affording them the greatest opportunities in mobility and autonomy.
BTS Bioengineering technologies offer a comprehensive operating system to concurrently capture multiple points of data. This is extremely important when working with children as they often get tired quickly or lose interest after several trials. As such, we can capture video, EMG, force and kinematic data in one step. Due to this technology’s flexibility, it has allowed us to study patients that are not often considered for motion analysis.
Cook Children’s champions patient safety and privacy, and as such, BTS was amenable to fulfill our HIPPA needs, which surpassed many other motion analysis products. BTS has also been responsive in our needs for report or protocol customization in studying pediatric patients or troubleshooting existing protocols when needed. Regarding the software, it is user friendly, and templates are adaptable to your organization’s needs. There are many ways to use the different technologies individually, concurrently or in different combinations depending on the data you wish to capture or the needs of your patients. We are extremely excited to use the technologies in forward-thinking ways to enhance our patient’s lives.
We are very proud to welcome Cook Children’s into the BTS family and to continue our growth together with the common goal of assuring children around the world with better lives.
