Deep learning techniques for automated detection of autism spectrum disorder based on thermal imaging

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder have impairments in emotional processing which leads to the inability in recognizing facial expressions. Since emotion is a vital criterion for having fine socialisation, it is incredibly important for the autistic children to recognise emotions. In our study, we have chosen the facial skin temperature as a biomarker to measure emotions. To assess the facial skin temperature, the thermal imaging modality has been used in this study, since it has been recognised as a promising technique to evaluate emotional responses. The aim of this study was the following: (1) to compare the facial skin temperature of autistic and non-autistic children by using thermal imaging across various emotions; (2) to classify the thermal images obtained from the study using the customised convolutional neural network compared with the ResNet 50 network. Fifty autistic and fifty non-autistic participants were included for the study. Thermal imaging was used to obtain the temperature of specific facial regions such as the eyes, cheek, forehead and nose while we evoked emotions (Happiness, anger and sadness) in children using an audio-visual stimulus. Among the emotions considered, the emotion anger had the highest temperature difference between the autistic and non-autistic participants in the region’s eyes (1.9%), cheek (2.38%) and nose (12.6%). The accuracy obtained by classifying the thermal images of the autistic and non-autistic children using Customised Neural Network and ResNet 50 Network was 96% and 90% respectively. This computer aided diagnostic tool can be a predictable and a steadfast method in the diagnosis of the autistic individuals.