SCC-PG: Bridge: An AI-Enabled Platform to Support Coordinated Care for Children with Autism

患有自闭症谱系障碍(CWA)的儿童通常会有严重的问题行为，因此需要长期的护理，并进行个性化的临床评估、治疗和干预。应用行为分析(ABA)疗法被认为是一种循证的最佳实践，可能耗时、资源密集，而且容易产生人的偏见。这个智能互联社区规划赠款(SCC-PG)项目旨在共同设计一个基于人工智能的解决方案，用于收集行为数据以自动测量严重行为(例如，频率、强度、潜伏期等)，帮助诊断和治疗决策，并实时与患者和家人沟通以进行早期干预。该项目团队与一系列社区利益相关者在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥进行了一项试点研究，通过一个人工智能增强的平台协调对CWA的护理。规划过程首先确定关键平台参数，包括数据类型、隐私问题、主要功能模块和预期性能。研究了不同的人工智能算法用于融合多模式数据以通知ABA。进行调查后和焦点小组，以揭示将IoT-Edge-Cloud原型纳入临床实践的效果。该项目有可能改善自闭症儿童的健康结果和他们家庭的福祉。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Children with autism spectrum disorder (CWA) often engage in severe problem behavior, and thus require long-term care with individualized clinical assessment, treatment, and intervention. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, considered an evidence-based best practice, can be time-consuming, resource intensive, and prone to human bias. This Smart and Connected Communities Planning Grant (SCC-PG) project seeks to co-design an AI-based solution for collecting behavior data for automatic measurement of severe behaviors (e.g., frequency, intensity, latency, etc.), assisting diagnosis and treatment decisions, and communicating to patients and families in real-time for early intervention.The project team partners with a range of community stakeholders in a pilot study in San Antonio, TX for coordinated care of CWA through an AI-augmented platform. The planning process begins with identifying key platform parameters including data types, privacy concerns, main function modules, and expected performance. Different AI algorithms are examined for fusing multi-modal data to inform ABA. Post-survey and focus groups are conducted to uncover the effects of incorporating the IoT-Edge-Cloud prototype into clinical practices. The project has the potential to improve health outcomes for autistic children and the well-being of their families.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.