{"id":268877,"date":"2020-03-09T07:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=268877"},"modified":"2020-03-09T16:01:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T19:01:00","slug":"brazilian-startup-wants-to-diagnose-autism-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/brazilian-startup-wants-to-diagnose-autism-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian startup wants to diagnose autism around the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Brazilian startup company Cognisigns<\/a> developed a software program that can diagnose autism in children and adults. Established in Florian\u00f3polis (SC) a year and a half ago by neuroscientist Leandro Mattos and psychologist Andressa Roveda (pictured above), Cognisigns intends to map out autistic people in Brazil and the world over before they even show up at the doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

The project won the TIP Summit 2020<\/a> (Technology Innovation Pioneers) last February in Abu Dhabi. Out of 4,000 entrants, five startups won each of the categories \u2013 Healthcare, Environment and Energy. Cognisigns placed in the top 5 in Healthcare, got a cash prize and is planning to implement the software in the UAE. It\u2019s also set to open an office in Abu Dhabi in the first half of this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A girl takes the eye scan test<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ANBA spoke with Leandro Mattos, who discussed the software program and the TIP Summit, which is hosted by the UAE Ministry of Economy.<\/p>\n

Mattos said global awareness of autism spectrum disorder is fairly low at this time. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1% to 2% of the world\u2019s population are autistic (data from 2010). \u201cIf 1% are autistic, there are 2 million autistic people in Brazil, but only 3,000 are diagnosed as such. That\u2019s 0.15%, which means that 99.85% are unaware. We want to reach out to these people, because if they aren\u2019t diagnosed, they won\u2019t seek medical help,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

According to him, the first part of the software is an easy-to-answer multiple-choice survey, which changes according to the respondent\u2019s answers. In case any autistic tendencies are detected, respondents are directed to the second part of the program \u2013 an eye scan using the computer\u00a0camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do it all online. These are international surveys. We got them translated into English and Arabic, and eye behavior is not culture- or language-dependent, so it doesn\u2019t require translation. Once they get this diagnosis, respondents can seek a physician to undergo adequate treatment and social inclusion,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The eye scan involves visual stimuli, like a videogame that prompts reactions, and the reactions enable the diagnosis. \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is kind of like a newborn bloodspot test for autism. If we succeed in doing this global scan, we\u2019ll be able to help with population triage, making the technology available to families and physicians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The survey part is free of charge; the eye scan part costs BRL 250 (USD 54). According to Mattos, the target demographic is families, companies and governments. \u201cParents\u2019 purchases are quicker; companies are in the middle of the road, and those are our target right now \u2013 the B2B segment; governments take a long time to purchase, but we\u2019re working on that too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the Brazilian government, for instance, the software could triage public healthcare system patients into priority levels. Patients diagnosed as autistic would get urgent priority. \u201cThe government doesn\u2019t need more hospitals to treat autism. All it needs is maybe to sort out patients better. That would mean lower costs for government. We\u2019ve done tests at municipal schools in Florian\u00f3polis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The software has already helped many families, children and adults in Brazil. There are plans to reach remote areas with a lack of medical care. \u201cWe\u2019re helping autistic people\u2019s parents, kids and physicians. We\u2019ll identify and follow up with these people, and the diagnosis leads to inclusion and awareness. That\u2019s what moves us. That\u2019s our currency \u2013 more than the financial and operational aspects, which every company needs. When you see it happen, it\u2019s a very unique, rewarding thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The TIP Summit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cognisigns is working on its UAE operations. \u201cOur intention is to become a Brazilian-Arab company. The TIP Summit was like our passport to the UAE. We just went in for the awards, and now we\u2019re looking for an Arab partner. We\u2019re seeking out a partnership,\u201d said Mattos, who intends to have the office up and running in the first half of this year.<\/p>\n

According to him, there\u2019s a possibility of getting incubated in the UAE. Cognisigns is currently incubated under Florian\u00f3polis\u2019 Miditec, the fifth biggest incubator in the world. \u201cThe feeling I get from the Arab world is that they\u2019re very committed to technologies designed to assist minorities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press Release<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cognisigns is one of five up-and-coming health industry companies that won the TIP Summit 2020 in Abu Dhabi. It\u2019s planning on setting up an office in the emirate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2305,"featured_media":268864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[9684,11909,14225,14224,14226,14228,14229,14227],"class_list":{"0":"post-268877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-innovation","8":"tag-abu-dhabi-en","9":"tag-abu-dhabi-en-2","10":"tag-autism","11":"tag-autismo","12":"tag-autistic-spectrum-disorder","13":"tag-cognisigns-en","14":"tag-florianopolis-en","15":"tag-tip-summit-en"},"wps_subtitle":"Cognisigns is one of five up-and-coming health industry companies that won the TIP Summit 2020 in Abu Dhabi. It\u2019s planning on setting up an office in the emirate. ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}