With its first foray into medical devices, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories is hoping to help children with autism spectrum disorder get diagnosed and into care earlier in life. The Pullman-based manufacturer announced that it’s moving forward with efforts to bring a handheld autism medical technology device to clinics across the country, after acquiring the intellectual property and hiring the researcher who developed it at Washington State University Spokane.
While yet to receive federal approval, the device can detect atypical reactions to light in a child’s pupils, which research has shown to be an indicator of autism.
Autism is a developmental disability that affects about 1 in 36 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although there are differences on a spectrum, autism often causes problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests.
It does not provide a clear-cut diagnosis, but the data the device gathers through analyzing pupil activity would be an invaluable tool in the screening process for clinicians, said Georgina Lynch, the researcher who developed a prototype while an associate professor at the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.