PainChek® partners with the Melbourne Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) for Infant App PainFaces Study

PainChek® is pleased to advise it will collaborate with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), to clinically test a version of the PainChek®App for infants.

The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) is the largest child health research institute in Australia and one of the top three worldwide. Its team of more than 1200 researchers are dedicated to making discoveries to prevent and treat childhood conditions. It works alongside campus partners The Royal Children’s Hospital and The University of Melbourne to form the Melbourne Children’s; a world-class children’s hospital campus incorporating clinical care, research and teaching.

The PainChek® Infant PainFaces study will be led by Professor Franz Babl (MCRI) and Associate Professor Di Crellin (MCRI) in the Emergency Department (ED) of the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.

Lead researcher on the project Associate Professor Crellin has recently evaluated the validity and reliability of two observational children’s pain assessment tools, the Face, Legs, Activity, Cries and Consolability (FLACC) scale and the Modified Behavioural Pain Scale (MBPS), in assessing procedural pain in the ED.

In this new study, which is expected to commence within days, the pain scores derived using the PainChek® Infant App will be compared to those obtained using the FLACC by two independent assessors in approx. 100 infants undergoing painful procedures within the ED.

On the commencement of the study PainChek® Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Jeff Hughes, commented, “The company is excited to be working with researchers from the world renowned MCRI. Children who present to the ED often have underlying pain or need to go through painful medical procedures. The PainFace study will be looking to validate PainChek® as an accurate pain assessment tool that helps clinicians in the ED improve the quality of pain management for these vulnerable children”

The results and lessons from this research will support applications for regulatory approval of PainChek® Infant’s App with the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA), CE Mark, Europe, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

Professor Franz Babl (MCRI) and Associate Professor Di Crellin (MCRI) in the Emergency Department (ED) of the Royal Children’s Hospital holding a baby

Highlights:

Largest child health research institute in Australia, and one of top three worldwide, to clinically test a version of the PainChek® App for infants;

PainChek® Infant PainFaces study will be led by Professor Franz Babl (MCRI) and Associate Professor Di Crellin (MCRI) in the Emergency Department (ED) of the Royal Children’s Hospital;

In this new study, which is expected to commence within days, the pain scores derived using the PainChek® Infant App will be compared to those obtained using observational children’s pain assessment tools by two independent assessors in approx. 100 infants undergoing painful procedures within the ED;

Results and lessons from the research will support applications for regulatory approval of PainChek® Infant’s App with the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA), CE Mark, Europe, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

About MCRI:

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) is the largest child health research institute in Australia committed to making discoveries and developing treatments to improve child and adolescent health in Australia and around the world.

MCRI is pioneering new treatments, trialling better vaccines and improving ways of diagnosing and helping sick babies, children and adolescents. It is one of the only research institutes in Australia to offer genetic testing to find answers for families of children with previously undiagnosed conditions.
Website: www.mcri.edu.au

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