Intelligent Data Capture and Assessment Technology for Developmental Disabilities

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposed SBIR Phase II renewal will leverage the technical expertise of academic collaborators at Georgia Institute of Technology and ongoing relationships forged with behavioral health professionals to introduce key technical innovations to our existing Behavior Imaging(R) telehealth system, and evaluate the enhanced system in two clinical assessment settings relevant to Autism Spectrum Disorders. These technical innovations will significantly improve ease of deployment and clinical utility of our system, resulting in a far more commercially viable product. The specific aims of the proposed project are: (1) To introduce hardware and software modifications to Behavior Capture, with simplified video capture on commodity smartphones and novel interactive features, including tags for target behaviors and the ability to flag examples of appropriate recordings; (2) To improve clinicians' experience with our online Behavior Connect telehealth system through the design of modules that optimize their workflow and reduce the need for training, and (3) To conduct two clinical studies to demonstrate how the technology innovations impact clinical decision-making. The first of these studies will be conducted in collaboration with the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC) in Arizona, and will evaluate the use of the technology to streamline the process of diagnosis for autism using videos recorded by parents in the home. The second study will be conducted in collaboration with the Marcus Autism Center in Georgia, and will evaluate the use of the technology for assessment of severity and function of problem behavior, again, based on caregiver captured video of child behavior in the home. Caring Technologies (now Behavior Imaging Solutions) successfully executed its Phase I and II research studies to partially develop and evaluate the research efficacy of its Behavior Imaging(R) telehealth technology to facilitate data collection and remote consultation/supervision for special educators and clinicians treating autism and other behavior disorders in classrooms. The company subsequently successfully launched its Behavior Imaging(R) consultation platform, and without institutional investment, generated 900K in revenue in 2010 for the technology's use primarily for (1) capturing and tracking the progress of special needs students, and (2) remotely supervising the delivery of in-home behavioral treatment. We anticipate that the proposed enhanced system, once validated in the clinical studies described in this proposal, will be adopted widely by the autism research and clinical community, and will significantly improve access to care among children with autism and developmental disabilities, as well as their families. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We intend to significantly enhance our existing telehealth system with hardware/software innovations and to validate its clinical performance for two important autism use cases. Enhancements based upon user feedback of our existing system will result in a far wider commercially acceptable product than we now have.