The baby faces that could help unlock mystery medical conditions
West Australian babies could help save thousands of lives in a world first project - and it involves taking lots of photographs.
The tiny faces of hundreds of newborns may be the key to unlocking conditions that have long baffled doctors.
Beeliar mum Emma-Louise Tucker gave birth to little Harper just two days ago.
But this tiny tot is already doing big things. She's part of a world-first study which could help doctors identify rare diseases in infants early and accurately.
"We're really lucky to have a healthy baby girl ourselves," Emma Louise said.
"So anything else we can do to help anyone else, we're really happy to be involved."
Dr Cathryn Poulton is spearheading the research at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
She's photographing babies to create a world-first catalogue of 200 tiny faces.
They're turned into 3D images, and 10,000 data points map facial features.
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"The distance between their eyes, or the distance between the nose and lip or facial asymmetry - they're the features we're looking for specifically," Dr Poulton said.
Doctors are hoping facial patterns will emerge, allowing them to identify rare conditions quickly.
More than 63,000 children in WA have a rare disease. Collectively, the diseases affect around one in 12 West Australians.
If it works, it could save money and prevent misdiagnosis.
"It costs the health system up to 10 per cent of its budget, so this is a significant point of work we have to do to make a more efficient health system," WA Health Minister Roger Cook said.
The results are due in the next few months.
