LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- University of Louisville researchers are using artificial intelligence to find autism at a younger age.
UofL said in a news release Monday that the tool has a 98% accuracy rate so far in kids as young as 2 years old. Tested among 226 children between the ages of 2 and 4, scans identified about 120 children with autism "with near perfect accuracy," UofL said.
Diagnosing autism at such a young age could give doctors more time to help with therapy. It would also reduce specialist workload by up to 30%, UofL said.
"Therapy could be the difference between an individual needing full-time care and being independent, holding a job and living a fulfilled life,” said Ayman El-Baz, co-inventor of the tool and a professor and chair in the J.B. Speed School of Engineering.
UofL said research shows fewer than half of kids are tested before they turn 3. Therapy can be most effective in early childhood when brains are more elastic, but there are too many patients and too few specialists needed for diagnosis, UofL said.
"As a result, there's an urgent need for a new, objective technology that can help us diagnose kids early," said Barnes, a professor of neurology and executive director of the UofL Autism Center. "We think our tool can help fill that need, while providing more objectivity over the current interview method."
For more information on the research, click here.
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