New tool developed to evaluate chronic pain

Researchers have developed a new tool to help doctors evaluate chronic pain in a speedy fashion and with professional distance.

The visual method allows physicians to assess a patient's pain levels by observing their movement.

Anisoara Lonescu, scientist at the EPFL Laboratory of Movement and Analysis and Measurement, explained: "You move differently if you're in pain than you do if you're completely healthy.

"It's important for doctors to be able to evaluate that pain as precisely as possible."

The tool works by generating data from sensors placed on different parts of the body. Doctors can then quantify if a patient is suffering and if they experience any progress with treatment.

This will allow professionals to cultivate the right treatment approach for their individual patients to get to the route of the problem.

Ordinarily, doctors must rely on a comprehensive oral evaluation to assess the severity of a patient's pain, but by offering a way to physically test pain doctors have a more reliable method of identification and diagnosis.

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