One in six children in the U.S. has some form of development
delay. The Centers for Disease Control has determined that the average
age a parent notices the signs and symptoms of developmental delay is
often as young as 12 months, but they are not diagnosed until 3 or 4.
Children who consistently miss milestones in key areas of development
(social, emotional, physical, cognitive, language) may be at risk for a
developmental delay, including autism.
Cognoa's app helps every parent find out if their child’s development is on track and get the
right help as early as possible. A parent answers simple questions and
uploads two short videos of their child's behavior. Cognoa’s app then
determines whether the child is at risk for developmental delay or
autism using machine learning algorithms Dr. Dennis Wall developed at
Harvard and Stanford Medical Schools. Cognoa provides a personalized
report parents can share with their doctor that identifies specific
areas where the child is doing well in addition to areas where the child
might need early or rapid intervention. Cognoa also provides
personalized next steps, including activities recommendations that
integrate on-going monitoring.
Our machine learning scoring
system has been validated using several large archival repositories
containing data on over 10,000 families with different types of
developmental delay and/or autism spectrum disorder. The scoring system
has also been validated in a prospective clinical validation study, with
two additional multi-site studies underway. The sensitivity and
specificity values for the system currently range from 90-97% and 80-94%
respectively.
