Team: Maxine Arnush, Priya Bhattacharjee, Joshua Chen, Richard Xu
Client: Dr. Parvin Azizi, MD, Pediatric Neurologist, UCSF Fresno
2016 BioE 192 Capstone Project
Problem: Pediatric patients cannot be diagnosed with Autonomic Nervous System dysfunction because there are no available tools.
Needs Statement: A method to screen for ANS dysfunction in symptomatic pediatric patients who have been referred to a neurologist in order to reduce cases of misdiagnosis and improve treatment outcomes.
Purpose:
In the short-term, undiagnosed Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) disorder correlates to physical limitation and disability, physiological and behavioral worsening, and an inability to navigate society without potential risk of symptomatic flare-ups. Current diagnostic tools require a relatively high level of patient compliance, can often be physically restraining, and require precise directions to be followed on the part of the patient. There is a plethora of misdiagnoses of ANS dysfunction that can be attributed to the lack of screening tools available to pediatric neurology teams. In addition, children require a more sensitive method of diagnosis since their disease states are less progressed than those of adult patients. Currently, there is no available hardware or medical device that can effectively, sensitively, and quickly diagnose ANS dysfunction in a child-friendly way.
Population: Pediatric patients referred to a neurologist, 7-8 years of age.
Outcome: Reducing misdiagnosis, leading to a reduction in social implications as well as an impact in the clinical space for other neurologists.