Legg-Calve-Perthes disease is a childhood condition that occurs when blood supply to the femoral head of the hip joint is temporarily interrupted and the bone begins to die. Byteflies, a Belgian-American wearable health company, who was exhibiting at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show at MEDICA 2018, developed a wearable device that can effectively monitor movement in children suffering from Legg-Calve-Perthes disease.

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Jules, a 6-year-old energetic boy living with his parents in Belgium, was diagnosed with Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease in 2018. Jules has a blog, where he shares his journey, and his family’s determination to find the best possible way to help him. The blog also aims to shed a spotlight onto such disorders, and how continuous and extensive monitoring with Byteflies Sensor Dots can make a difference for disease progress tracking, reports Byteflies.

Although Legg–Calvé–Perthes Disease can be healed over time, it can still weaken and deform the bone. When the affected child reaches adult age, these issues can increase the risk of developing arthritis. Therefore, most of the treatment focuses on preventing permanent deformation and stiffness by reducing hip movement.

In order to objectively measure the impact of Jules’s activities on his leg and hip, Byteflies has set up a 24/7 home monitoring system with Sensor Dot technology. The Sensor Dot continuously records movement and impact via the IMU sensor. Since December 2018, Jules has been wearing a Sensor Dot to monitor his left leg while he goes on with his play dates.

The device is very small and discreet, so it does not make the child uncomfortable while wearing it at school. The user-friendliness of the Sensor Dot greatly helps in keeping Jules’ life and routine, as well as his family’s, as normal as possible. The device has two parts: A patch that you that you stick to your leg and a magnet that you put on the patch. The patch adheres to the strong very strongly, even for a little kid.

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By continuously tracking how Jules uses his legs with accurate signals and data analysis, Byteflies provides feedback to minimize hip damage, assist in a better recovery, and help to avoid adult bone atrophy. Byteflies will send daily reports to his family so they can directly act on the data from the Sensor Dot.