Diagnosing autism can be a lengthy and expensive process, sometimes taking years. Now a new app being tested in Australia could help make the process a whole lot faster.
A simple blink could hold the key to diagnosing autism.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: New app could fast-track autism diagnosis
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Neuroscientists are creating a new tool called BlinkLab. It’s a smartphone-based platform designed for healthcare professionals.
The app plays a video with a series of unexpected sounds while capturing facial reactions on the phone’s front camera.
“They don’t need to answer difficult questions about, for instance, how they feel or these kind of things. It’s simply watching a video,” BlinkLab co-founder and CEO Henk-Jan Boele said.
The technology works by recording facial reflexes and analysing them.
“These reflexes that I’m talking about have been studied for many decades,” Boele said.
BlinkLab co-founder and CEO Henk-Jan Boele. Credit: 7NEWS
Dr Rebecca Kerestes understands the complexities of diagnosing these conditions. She’s a neuroscientist at Monash and a mum to twin boys.
“One was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at two and his twin brother was diagnosed with ADHD last year,” Kerestes said.
“I know as a parent and researcher there are many other families out there waiting far longer than that for a diagnosis.”
Dr Rebecca Kerestes Credit: 7NEWS
On average it takes around three years for a child to receive an autism diagnosis, around three and a half years for ADHD and even longer for those who present with both.
“So instead of four hours you can maybe do it in three hours or maybe even in two hours. That means that you can see more patients and reduce the long wait list,” Boele said.
After successful trials in the US, BlinkLab is partnering with Monash University’s MAGNET project to continue testing the platform here in Australia.
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