Digital healthcare company BlinkLab Limited (ASX:BB1) has initiated a clinical study in partnership with US based Turning Pointe Autism Foundation.
The study will enroll up to one hundred children previously diagnosed with autism and one hundred children without an autism diagnosis. The data obtained during the course of this collaboration will be used to finalize the data collection and processing algorithms as well as AI/ML models ahead of the FDA registrational study expected to start in the second half of 2024.
Founded in 2007, Turning Pointe Autism Foundation in Naperville, Illinois, was created to meet the specific and unique needs of students learning with autism. It offers individuals with autism between 5 to 22 years of age best practice programs to support their growth, development, and employment. To date, Turning Pointe’s commitment has had an impact on enhancing independence, communication, and social interactions among hundreds of children, teens, and adults. This collaboration between Turning Pointe and BlinkLab supports its vision to remain at the intersection of hope and innovation.
BlinkLab’s initial focus will be on a pilot program involving students from Turning Pointe aimed at refining and improving the data collection and processing algorithms as well as our AI/Machine Learning models.
“Our partnership with Turning Pointe is more than just collaboration. It is a major step toward fulfilling our mission to make well-established neurobehavioral testing clinically accessible and efficient. Turning Pointe’s dedication to quality education and support aligns perfectly with our goal of leveraging cutting-edge technology to better understand and assist individuals with autism. We are very excited about the possibilities that this collaboration offers for the advancement of autism diagnosis and care,” Henk-Jan Boele, CEO of BlinkLab, said.
Neurobehavioral testing will be performed using the smartphone-based platform developed by BlinkLab. The tests will include general measurement of spontaneous and stimulus-evoked postural, head, facial, and vocal responses along with specific neurometric tests, including the acoustic startle response, prepulse inhibition, long-term habituation, and short-term habituation. Up to two hundred children will participate in the study.
During the 15-minute smartphone evaluations, the children will watch an audio-normalized movie while the trials containing the auditory stimuli will be delivered via headphones.
For each trial, computer vision algorithms will be used to track and record the position of the participant’s facial landmarks over time.
