Early Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders – Design of the Data Acquisition and Management System

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders are not diagnosed until children reach 3-4 years of age. Early identification of pathological subjects is crucial as early intervention is much more effective. The current project is aimed at the development of a set of methods for improving the chances of early diagnosis. In this paper we focus on the design and development of the shared acquisition architecture. The requirements of a standardized acquisition protocol suggested the development of an integrated acquisition tool using a local storage. Each acquisition tool will allow a secure management of subject data, reducing the risk of mislabeled or lost data by using a guided procedure. A set of synchronization procedures allow a secure data communication with a central database. The requirements related to data management and privacy have been analyzed allowing the definition of the main access roles to the data repository.