New telemedicine research may help identify autistic symptoms in infants
Release date: 2018-04-04 Purdue University is conducting a telemedicine study to help identify autism symptoms in infants with rare neuro-genetic diseases that may otherwise lack access to professional care. The results of the study may help children receive personalized treatments earlier than usual. The five-year study will focus on prospectively monitoring autistic symptoms in high-risk infants with neuro-genetic diseases, such as Angelman syndrome and fragile X syndrome. The study has received nearly $1 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The project collects basic information about infants by telemedicine and monitors the growth and development of the baby at home, without having to take the child to a clinic or laboratory – this is crucial for rare sick infants such as angel syndrome. . Researchers will distribute a kit for each family, including a heart monitor, a LENA recording device (which assesses the child’s early language environment before the age of 4), a vest for wearing recording equipment, and baby toys. A tool for collecting saliva for cortisol assessment. Parents will also receive training on activities typically performed in the laboratory, including monitoring cardiac activities and guiding children to complete eye movement tasks. Bridgette Tonnsen, the research director and assistant professor of clinical psychology, said, "Although our autism research has made a lot of progress, understanding the symptoms, how to treat and giving family support, we still lack children within one year of age. A reliable autism marker." Tonnsen, a member of the Purdue Autism Cluster at Purdue University, said, “In the first year of the life cycle, the brain changes rapidly, so if the child is not monitored before the age of 3 or 4, we are likely to miss support. They have a good time to grow and develop. Of course, we don't want to make a hasty diagnosis, but taking some pre-diagnostic interventions can greatly help these children for a long time." Tonnsen said that research on infant autism often relies on high-risk samples, which are doctors who believe that there is a higher probability of autism in later life. Often, researchers will focus on high-risk children because they have family members (usually siblings) who suffer from autism. Before recruiting families across the United States, Purdue researchers will work with local families to evaluate telemedicine technology and research procedures in the first part of the study. Tonnsen said, “About half of the children in our sample will suffer from autism, and the findings we have gained from their development milestones will help us identify the predictors of autism.†She also said, “We are working with parents to train them to learn how to do research at home. Children will feel more comfortable at home and avoid the hassle of traveling to the lab. This is not only more efficient, but also more economical and more Family considerations, and I think we will be able to collect more authoritative data." As head of the Neurodevelopmental Family Laboratory, Tonnsen hopes that this telemedicine study will help other researchers working in isolated populations or clinicians diagnosed with autism. Previous telemedicine research has proven that medical staff communicating with patients via computers or smartphones for diagnosis and treatment is a simpler and more economical method for clinical diagnosis of families with children with autism spectrum diseases. Original link: Https://angelmansyndromenews.com/2018/03/12/telehealth-study-may-identify-autism-markers-in-angelman-syndrome-babies/ Source: China's rare disease Mushroom Container Plant Factory Mushroom Container Plant Factory,Hydroponic Container Farm,Mushroom Container Farm,Agriculture Mushroom Grow Room Qingzhou JuLong Agriculture Equipment Co.,Ltd , https://www.julonggrowtech.com