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. 2016 Dec 27;17(1):46.
doi: 10.3390/s17010046.

Sensing Technologies for Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Intervention

John-John Cabibihan  1 , Hifza Javed  2 , Mohammed Aldosari  3 , Thomas W Frazier  4 , Haitham Elbashir  5
Affiliations

Sensing Technologies for Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Intervention

John-John Cabibihan et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in sensing technologies that are relevant for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) screening and therapy. This disorder is characterized by difficulties in social communication, social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. It is diagnosed during the first three years of life. Early and intensive interventions have been shown to improve the developmental trajectory of the affected children. The earlier the diagnosis, the sooner the intervention therapy can begin, thus, making early diagnosis an important research goal. Technological innovations have tremendous potential to assist with early diagnosis and improve intervention programs. The need for careful and methodological evaluation of such emerging technologies becomes important in order to assist not only the therapists and clinicians in their selection of suitable tools, but to also guide the developers of the technologies in improving hardware and software. In this paper, we survey the literatures on sensing technologies for ASD and we categorize them into eye trackers, movement trackers, electrodermal activity monitors, tactile sensors, vocal prosody and speech detectors, and sleep quality assessment devices. We assess their effectiveness and study their limitations. We also examine the challenges faced by this growing field that need to be addressed before these technologies can perform up to their theoretical potential.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; electrodermal activity monitors; eye trackers; movement trackers; prosody and speech detectors; sleep quality assessment; social robotics; tactile sensing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Subject with his head resting on a chin rest where eye gaze data was recorded by a desktop eye tracker (©2012 IEEE. Reprinted with permission [28]).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The head band of HATCAM showing a camera and mirrors to detect the eye gaze of the subject (©2010 IEEE. Reprinted with permission [45]).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Perspective from the experimenter’s point-of-view eye tracking glasses. (a) Region of interest; (b) Head pose and eye direction overlays from a software application. (©2015 ACM. Reprinted with permission [49]).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Video snapshot and acceleration readings for (a) aggression; (b) disruption; (c) self-injury. (©2012 ACM. Reprinted with permission [56]).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Various experimental haptic interfaces for therapy: (a) Touch Me simulates touch; (b) Squeeze Me simulates hugs; (c) Hurt Me induces controlled pain. (©2009 ACM. Reprinted with permission [80]).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Interactions between a child and a touch-sensitive social robot. (a) Games with tactile contact interaction; (b) Hexagon-shaped tactile skin patches on the robot KASPAR. (With kind permission from Springer Science + Business Media, adapted from [90]).
Figure 7
Figure 7
The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) device. (a) Custom-designed clothing with a pocket to insert the recorder; (b) Software interface of LENA showing the audio environment, child’s vocalizations, conversational turns and adult words throughout the day. Images courtesy of Dr. M. Aldosari, Cleveland Clinic.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The bed sensor suite and the residential dashboard interface indicating the real-time status of the child on the bed. Sample data shows movements and ballistocardiogram (BCG) data (©2014 IEEE. Reprinted with permission [128]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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