WO2018078653A1

WO2018078653A1 - A method for assessing early stage development delays of a child and providing recommendations thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2018078653A1
Application number: PCT/IN2017/050495
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vijay Anand; Neeraj Gupta
Original assignee: Discovery Info Labs Private Limited
Priority date: 2016-10-27
Filing date: 2017-10-27
Publication date: 2018-05-03

Abstract

The present invention describes a method for assessing early stage development delays of a child and providing recommendations thereof. According to one embodiment, a cluster managing module receives the child profile features and growth check database of a given child. The cluster managing module analyzes both the child profile features and information in the growth check database and provides the result to a recommendation engine. The recommendation engine tracks every single child's history of responses, profile and recommends appropriate check parameters to caregiver of the child based on the inputs received from the cluster managing module. The response from caregiver is then compared with benchmark by the response analyzing module and checks whether any developmental delay disorder is present in the child. A report is generated based on the above checks and provided to the caregiver as recommendation.

Description

A METHOD FOR ASSESSING EARLY STAGE DEVELOPMENT DELAYS OF A CHILD AND PROVIDING RECOMMENDATIONS THEREOF

Related Application

The present invention claims benefit of the Indian Provisional Application No. 201641036957 titled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING EARLY STAGE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DELAYS OF A CHILD" by Discovery Info Labs Private Limited, filed on 27^th October 2016, which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference for all purposes.

Field of Invention

The present invention generally directed to child development monitoring, and more particularly relates a method for assessing early stage growth and development delays of a child and an electronic device thereof.

Background of Invention Over the years, a list of development standards has been set up in the area of early child development, where the fundamental basis of a child's development has been only limited to the child's age. Despite extensive studies and a varying yet established set of standards, it has been observed that there exists a gap in a system that considers all other factors that influence the child development other than the age of the child. These areas include, but not limited to, the economic backdrop of a child, parenting styles followed by the children's family, the nutrition value through diets available in a household or through supplements, the income scale of a family, the social environment that a child is growing in and many others which could possibly influence a child's development. Currently there lacks tools or systems to determine standards based on many factors that influences child's growth and development.

Parents or Caregivers are the primal individuals who spend maximum time with a child. It is thus quite essential for them to be fully aware of the nooks of each stage of their child's growth and development. However, there lacks a proper guidance for them in this regard, as whatever they gather from their elders and other sources are minimal, and doesn't give a self-explanatory assistance in figuring out their child's development time to time. There's a dire need for parents as well as caregivers of a child to be empowered with a tool that provides them with ample guidance when it comes to tracking key checklists of their child's growth and development through every day activities and keen observation. Every child's profile is bound to convey different aspects, which won't be similar with another child, since, heterogeneity reflects in multitudes in children, especially during the early developmental stages of life. Therefore, it becomes all the more essential for parents to have a tool that can act as a guidance to determine their child's progress as well as shortcomings, through simple observations and techniques.

The current system of assessment of development in children considers primarily age range, whereas, there is a need of having a cluster of dynamically set benchmarks based on many factors which are crucial to bring precision and accuracy in evaluating a child's development. Every child is different, and the development of two given children cannot be evaluated merely emphasizing on the aspect that they are of the same age, since, there are several other key elements that differentiates them from one another. Similarly, a set of 50 children belonging to the same age group doesn't signify that the skill-set and development of all the 50 kids are the same. They are bound to be influenced by several other elements. In fact, the lack of tools and a benchmarking system to conduct evaluation of child development with reference to factors other than age range, also makes it difficult to spot developmental delays and disorders in children at the early stages, which can pose a greater threat in the long run or even predict child's development across multiple categories based on similar patterns. If empowered with tools, parents can actually spot developmental delays or complications beforehand just by simple observation in their routine day to day lives, and take all of it into consideration for determining how well their child is progressing and if there are any warning signs for disorders, in the form of developmental delays.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a method which can take inputs of several factors that influence child development and dynamically set benchmark based on the individual child's profile progressiveness throughout the early child development stage.

The above mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.

Summary

Various embodiments herein describe a method for assessing early stage development delays of a child and providing recommendations thereof. The method comprises of receiving, by a cluster managing module, at least one profile feature of a child via a user interface of an electronic device, providing, by a recommendation engine, one or more recommendations based on the received child profile features, wherein the one or more recommendations comprises of plurality of growth check parameters for assessing developmental growth of the child, receiving, by a response receiving module, one or more responses for the plurality of growth check parameters from a user, analyzing, by a response analyzing module, the one or more received responses for calculating a performance score of the child, and determining, by a developmental delay disorder checking module, whether any developmental disorder present in the child based on the performance score.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises of generating a report for the child based on the performance score, wherein the report comprises of summary of child progress over a period of time along with delays, and disorders observed during the period.

According to one embodiment, the growth check parameters is at least one of a text, question, date, activity, images, tests, audio, interactive application, wearable sensors and a combination of all. According to one embodiment, the method further comprises of determining a current developmental level based on performance of the child, comparing the current development level of the child with a preset standard level, identifying a developmental disorder based on the comparison, identifying a root cause for the identified developmental disorder from at least one of extracted child profile features and the corresponding growth check model, extracting at least one recommendation suitable for the identified developmental disorder, and providing the at least one extracted recommendation as a notification on a display of the electronic device.

According to one embodiment, in determining whether a developmental disorder present in the child, the method comprises of: identifying a development delay present in the child based on the one or more received responses, and providing a new set of growth check parameters for determining a particular developmental disorder. According to one embodiment, the one or more responses are analyzed by at least one of comparing responses of the child with responses of children present in a cluster of children of a particular age, comparing responses of the child with benchmarks set within the cluster of the child.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises of creating a cluster by combining profile features of the child and a growth check model, setting a benchmark for each cluster in the cluster group based on progressive data obtained from child profile extractor and a growth check model, and automatically updating growth check model based on the responses received from the user.

Various embodiments herein further describe an electronic device for assessing early stage growth and developmental delays of a child. According to one embodiment, the electronic device comprises of a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and a growth assessment and benchmarking unit operatively connected to the memory for assessing early stage growth and developmental delays of a child further comprises of a cluster managing module for receiving at least one profile feature and growth check data of the child from a growth check database via a user interface of an electronic device, a recommendation engine for providing one or more recommendations based on the received profile feature and growth check data of the child, wherein the one or more recommendations comprises of plurality of growth check parameters for analyzing any developmental disorder, a response receiving module for receiving one or more responses for the plurality of growth check parameters from a user, a response analyzing module for analyzing, one or more responses for calculating a performance score of the child, and a developmental delay disorder checking module for determining whether any developmental disorder occurs in the child based on the performance score. The foregoing has outlined, in general, the various aspects of the invention and is to serve as an aid to better understand the more complete detailed description which is to follow. In reference to such, there is to be a clear understanding that the present invention is not limited to the method or application of use described and illustrated herein. It is intended that any other advantages and objects of the present invention that become apparent or obvious from the detailed description or illustrations contained herein are within the scope of the present invention.

Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings

The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1A is a block diagram illustrating a growth assessment and benchmarking unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure IB illustrates an exploded view of the recommendation engine of Figure 1A, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary way of creating and managing clusters by the cluster managing module using child profile features and growth check model, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for calculating benchmark data for all the clusters, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method of analyzing responses of a given check of a given child against a given benchmark level responses, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic device that may be configured for assessing early stage growth and developmental delays of a child, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an exemplary method of identifying a developmental disorder in a child, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Although specific features of the present invention are shown in some drawings and not in others, this is done for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention describes a method for assessing early stage development delays of a child and providing recommendations thereof. In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims. The specification may refer to "an", "one" or "some" embodiment(s) in several locations. This does not necessarily imply that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and/or "comprising" when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations and arrangements of one or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantages details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein can be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

The present invention provides a method for assessing early stage development delays of a child and providing recommendations thereof. The child development is an extensive sphere that determines an individual's life-long course, in many ways, covering areas of physical, mental, social, emotional, and overall wellbeing. The development that happens in the first eight years in a child's life are extremely crucial since 90% of brain weight is developed by then and the fundamental citadels of physical growth of a child are also laid during the same time, which over time are of course programmed to get polished with new skill-sets developing as time passes. Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a growth assessment and benchmarking unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The growth assessment and benchmarking unit 100 comprises of child profile extractor 102, growth check model 104, a cluster managing module 106, a recommendation engine 108, a growth check list providing module 110, a response receiving module 112, a response analyzing module 114, a developmental delay disorder checking module 116, a report generating module 118 and recommendations module 120. The present invention follows a clustering approach in which a set of children is segmented in to multiple clusters. The multiple clusters are considered for analyzing and setting up dynamic benchmark, evaluation for overall growth and development. The clustering approach of assessing a child further enables a parent or care taker of a child for identifying any developmental disorders, its root cause and possible solution to overcome the developmental disorders. The different modules of the growth assessment and benchmarking unit work in conjunction with each other for providing better results to the end user such as parent/ caretaker and the like.

The child profile extractor 102 is adapted for extracting one or more features associated with a child. The child features primarily include, but not limited to, child age, region, caregiver or parent profile, parenting lifestyle, social and economic factors, heredity, nutrition level, child development response progress data, height, weight, BMI, cultural variables, mother's health data during pregnancy and post child delivery, mother's mental illness, birth complications, child Health Symptoms data, Child's sleep, Breastfeeding data, data from sensors or other applications such as baby monitor, which interacts with the child, and not limited to any other variables influencing the child's development. The extracted profile features are provided as an input to cluster managing module 106. The cluster managing module 106 is adapted for managing plurality of clusters wherein each cluster is different from one another. The cluster managing module 106 also receives input from growth check model 104. The growth check model 104 contains growth check metadata, list of data checks, list of categories for child's development, list of development delay disorders, history data of every child's response, caregiver inputs and the like in order to recommend appropriate new or incomplete growth checks and levels for the child during that specific time. The growth check model 104 also collects the response level and corresponding child' s date of completion for a given check and updates itself to incorporate newly found information.

The cluster managing module 106 analyze the details obtained from growth check database 104 and child profile extractor 102. The analysis helps the cluster managing module to create clusters, assign benchmark levels for each cluster and to dynamically set benchmark for each cluster based on progressive data obtained from both modules. The cluster managing module 106 provides the analysis to a recommendation engine 108. The recommendation engine 108 provides a series of checklist, appropriate levels that are to be observed for a child at any given time in sequence. The recommendation engine 108 also tracks every single child's history of responses, checks for any developmental disorders and provides new set of checklists if required. In some embodiments, if any developmental disorders found in the children, the recommendation engine 108 further detects root cause or indicators for the developmental disorders. The recommendation engine 108 detects the root cause based on profile features and growth check model associated with the child. The recommendation engine 108 further extracts at least one recommendation suitable for the identified developmental disorder and provides the at least one extracted recommendation as a notification on a display of the electronic device. In these embodiments, the at least one recommendation corresponds to at least one of online consultation with an expert, remedies for the disorders and the like. Additionally, the recommendation engine 108 provides personalized recommendations based on requirement of the caretaker/ parents of the child.

In other embodiments, the recommendation engine 108 recommends appropriate checklist based on the inputs received from the cluster managing module 106. The series of check list along with development levels that are to be observed for a child at any given point of time are maintained at Growth checklist providing module 110. The growth checklist providing module 110 comprises a plurality of growth check parameters and also manages and sequences all new growth check list, keeps record of pending checklist for observation and presents it at an appropriate time to the observer/ caretaker of the child.

The responses for all Growth Check lists are obtained from the caregiver or observer by a response receiving module 112. The response receiving module 112 records and stores the responses for analyzing by a response analyzing module 114. In one embodiment, the growth checklist can be in any form but not limited to text, question, date, activity, images, tests, audio, interactive application, sensors etc. The caregiver or the observer provides the response by indicating an achieved level for the given growth check based on the observation. The caregiver also provides the date on which level was achieved by the child. In some embodiments, the response to given growth check is not limited to only caregiver but it also can be obtained from any device, sensor or application which is observing the child. In some cases, growth check may require child to perform some activities and performance is captured and sent to the system as response. In some cases, the caregiver can also choose to provide any document or visuals like image or video instead of or in addition to response which can be processed by system to determine progress level of the child.

The response obtained from caregiver or from different device are then processed by the Response Analyzing module 114. The response analyzing module 114 calculates a score based on the response level for the associated cluster. In one embodiment, the response analyzing module 114 also analyzes the current response and past applicable responses, in order to check for any possibilities of development delay disorders or red flags. Based on the responses, the developmental delay disorder checking module 116 checks whether any disorder occurs in the child. The developmental delay disorder mostly occurs when the child does not able to reach the developmental milestones at the expected times. These delays can include but not be limited to speech delays, motor skills delays, emotional delays, so on and so forth. For instance, delayed babbling or prolonged stuttering can be one of the first warning signs of certain child developmental disorders, but the problem is rarely detected during the child's early days, and later, the problem only becomes concrete. Likewise, there's a number of other disorders that have early signs in the form of growth delays, deferred milestone completions, but are hard to detect by caregiver or by a parent. Also, the caregiver or the parent is not aware of general developmental areas of a child to look at.

Generally, for a child, the developmental areas can be broadly divided into a list of categories differentiated by a set of characteristics that develop in specific time ranges, depending on a list of factors as the child grows, starting from being a newborn to being the late childhood phase. Fundamentally, these early child development areas can be broadly classified as the cognitive development, linguistic development, socio- emotional development, as well as motor development. Any disorder or delay in the development areas is tracked by the development delay disorder checker. As shown in Figure 1, the development delay disorder checking module 116 specifically analyses and track updates of any development delay disorders from the Response analyzing module 114 and provide appropriate responses and recommendations. The response analyzing module 114 also updates cluster managing module 106, and the recommendation engine 108 if any delay is found in the response to enable the system to probe further with a fresh set of growth checks for determining the most probable development delay disorders. The response data is further sent to growth check model 104 including the response level and corresponding child's date of completion that given check and updates itself to incorporate newly found information.

Based on the responses and analytics, the report generating module 118 generates report for every child. The report contains summary as well as details about the child progress over a period of time for each core child development categories. The report also captures delays, disorders or red flags if observed any. In addition to that, it can also represent the milestone completed by child in any order not limited to chronological order of completion. The report further provides a comparison of how child is progressing against various benchmarks within the cluster the child belongs or with any other parameters. In some cases, the report also provides child's overall growth score for one or more clusters, which could take numerical form. In some embodiments, the score may have equations for the scoring step. One exemplary equation for scoring overall growth within a cluster, is as follows:

wherein S_Ci is the child's score for a given growth check and W_Ci is the weightage of given growth check, n is number of growth checks in a given cluster. The model or equation allows to calculate score at a category, sub category, groups or any other variables by considering relevant growth checks. Finally, the recommendations module 120 provides recommendations to improve the child development in areas where child growth is not satisfactory based on the generated report. The recommendations can also include products, activities, services, online consultation, chat or content in any form, etc. The recommendations can also suggest the parent or caregiver to do consultations with expert, packages etc. to enhance the child's progress. In addition, the recommendations module 120 also provides solutions by listing one or more remedies for the detected developmental disorder. Thus, the growth assessment and benchmarking unit enables a caregiver/parent to act promptly on the child without even waiting for a doctor appointment. Figure IB illustrates an exploded view of the recommendation engine of Figure 1A, according to one embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the Recommendation engine 108 is adapted for assessing developmental delays of a child. The Recommendation engine 108 further comprises of a developmental level assessment module 152, developmental areas determining module 154 and a root cause detecting module 156.

At first, the developmental level assessment module 152 assess the current level of development of child based on the extracted child profile features and the growth check model associated with the child profile. The output of the assessment is provided to the developmental areas determining module 154, which monitors key areas of the child that needs improvement. For example, consider that developmental level assessment module 152 identifies a kid of age 1.2 years has not started walking on its own and thereby concludes a milestone is missed for that kid. The developmental level assessment module 152 provides this assessment to the developmental areas determining module 154. The developmental areas determining module 154 understands the current developmental level of the kid against the set benchmark levels and determines one or more developmental areas of the child that needs improvement. In one embodiment, the developmental areas determining module 154 determines that the kid is lagging behind the set benchmark level and identifies cognitive skills and physical activities of the kid needs more training to achieve the missed milestone.

The root cause detecting module 156 analyzes the output received from the developmental areas determining module 154 and detects source of cause for causing such delay in the kid. The root cause detecting module 156 further analyzes profile features of the kid, type of food given to the kid, general activities performed by the kid etc., and list one or more causes on a display of the user device. Further, the root cause detecting module 156 provides one or more recommendations such as Activities by Therapists, Diet plan by Nutritionists, Online consultations by Experts directly on the platform depending on what is required for every child. Thus, the present invention also empowers caregivers with a solution to identify key indicators impacting healthy development of a child well in advance and suggest appropriate recommendations. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary way of assessing developmental activities of a child by a cluster managing module, according to an embodiment of the present invention. At first, the cluster managing module receives profile features of a child, wherein the child profile features comprise at least one of, but not limited to -

• Child characteristics like child age, gender, height, weight, BMI, growth track, etc.

Parents Profile like education, background, lifestyle, parenting style etc.

Family Profile like nuclear/joint family, siblings, friends, etc.

Environment like School, Society, Culture, Region, Locality, Religion, etc. Social and Economic Variables

Heredity and any birth complications

Nutrition State of the child

Child's development progress on Growth Check (GC)

Child's interaction data on any applications

Products used or services availed by the child

Health records or other records of the child

Mother's health data during pregnancy and post delivery

Mother's mental illness

Child Health Symptoms data

Child's sleep

Breastfeeding data and

Any other observation data from wearable devices, sensors or applications about the child

Secondly, the cluster managing module receives input from a growth check model. The growth check model comprises of but not limited to, a list of growth checks, child developmental categories and sub categories association, list of developmental delay disorders and history of response data for every growth check. The cluster managing module then analyzes the Child Profile, Family Profile, etc. and extracts the important features/vectors of child profile which could potentially influence the child development. The cluster managing module creates child profile clusters by combining the extracted child profile features and the growth check model.

A child may belong to one or more clusters with different affinity levels wherein the child has closest affinity with a home cluster than all other clusters. The cluster managing module dynamically sets benchmark level for each cluster from the obtained growth check data of all children of that cluster present in database. The cluster managing module automatically refines the cluster arrangement and benchmark model based on inputs on growth check lists. For example - One benchmark could be created from region specific cluster where all children from certain region are considered for Benchmarking.

Figure 3 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a method for calculating benchmark data for all the clusters, according to one embodiment. At step 302, clusters are picked up one by one from list of clusters and Growth Check (GC) data is fetched from the Growth Check Model for a given cluster. The growth check model consists of a list of all eligible growth check for children of the given cluster. At step 304, one growth check category is picked from the list of growth checks for analyzing growth/developmental activity of a child. At step 306, GC response data which include date of completion and level for the given check is fetched from database for all children of the correspondent cluster.

In one embodiment, the GC response data is processed, filtered to handle outliers, negative or false data, etc. At step 308 features for given growth check like min child age, max child age, average child age, delay parameters, red flag parameters, etc. are estimated. After estimating, one or more benchmarks set by various public or private organizations is considered. However, the benchmarks can move from static to dynamic benchmark as it starts receiving actual data about child's growth and development. The benchmarked data are updated at step 310. Further, at step 312, it is checked whether more checks are available for the given cluster. If yes, then the system goes to step 304 and do the process as mentioned. If there are no more checks available, at step 314, it is further determined whether any more clusters are available. If yes, then the whole process is repeated. The present method is adaptive in nature and the GC model improves continuously to build the ability to set dynamic benchmark for every cluster, child profile by processing the newly available growth check data.

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method of analyzing response of a given check of a given child against a given benchmark level response, according to an embodiment of the present invention. At step 402, response for given check having achieved level and corresponding age of child for a given check is received by a response analyzer. At step 404, GC data with the received response is updated, if any, for that child. At step 406, an expected level for a given child profile is estimated from the benchmark data of, the respective home cluster.

At step 408, difference is calculated between estimated child level and actual child level and a weighting factor is also calculated. The level difference may be expressed as, but is not limited to, a numerical difference between the child level and actual level. In some embodiments, difference may be a proximity distance between child level and actual level.

At step 410, the level weightage, actual level and weightage of that checklist may be combined to form an estimated checklist score for that child. Child profile is also updated with the checklist score. In some embodiments, an equation is used for calculating the scoring. One exemplary equation for scoring of a growth check is as follows:

Sc = ( 1 + ( L_A - L_E) / L_A ) * S_L wherein L_A is the actual level received in response, L_E is the estimated level at that age from benchmark, S_L is the base score associated with the level and Sc is the score for that child for a given check. At step 412, the child profile is analyzed for possibilities of any developmental delay, disorders or red flag against the various benchmarks applicable for that child profile. Child profile is also analyzed for completion of milestone etc. At step 414, reports may be generated to present information about the received response to either parent or caregiver. The report could be in any form including but not limited to text and/or visual, comparison of the child's progress within or outside the cluster or any other variables, comparative analysis of benchmark data across clusters and suggestion of activities/action item for that child based on completion or delay in growth check.

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating one or more components of an electronic device for assessing early and developmental disorder in a child, according to one embodiment. The electronic device 500 as shown in Figure 5 comprises of one or more components such as a processor 502, a memory 504, a network interface 508, a user interface 510 and a growth assessment and benchmarking unit 506. The electronic device 500 may comprise of many other components and it is not shown in Figure 5 for the sake of clarity.

The processor 502 may be configured to implement functionality and/or process instructions for execution within the electronic device 500. The processor 502 may be capable of processing instructions stored in the memory 504. The processor 502 may include any one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or equivalent discrete or integrated logic circuitry. Additionally, the functions attributed to the processor 502, in this disclosure, may be embodied as software, firmware, hardware or any combination thereof. The memory 504 may be configured to store information within the electronic device 500 during operation. The memory 504 may, in some examples, be described as a computer-readable storage medium. The memory may be described as a volatile memory, meaning that the memory 504 does not maintain stored contents when the computer is turned off. Examples of volatile memories include random access memories (RAM), dynamic random access memories (DRAM), static random access memories (SRAM), and other forms of volatile memories known in the art. In some examples, the memory 504 may interact with a growth assessment and benchmarking unit that contains program instructions for enabling processor 502 to execute one or more functions as desired.

The growth assessment and benchmarking unit 506 is adapted for monitoring early stage growth and developmental delays of a child. The growth assessment and benchmarking unit 506 is further adapted for creating clusters and dynamically setting benchmarks for each cluster for assessing developmental growth of the child. In some embodiments, the growth assessment and benchmarking unit 506 is adapted for identifying a developmental disorder, cause of occurrence of developmental disorder and recommending one or more solutions for the developmental disorder. The electronic device 500 may utilize network interface 508 to communicate with external devices via one or more networks, such as one or more wireless networks. In some embodiments, the external devices may correspond to one or more wearable devices worn by a child. The network interface 508 may be a network interface card, such as an Ethernet card, an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, or any other type of device that can send and receive information. Examples of such network interfaces may include Bluetooth®, 3G, 4G and WiFi® radios in mobile electronic devices as well as USB. Examples of such wireless networks may include WiFi®, Bluetooth®, 3G and 4G. In some examples, the electronic device 500 may utilize the network interface 508 to wirelessly communicate with an external device (not shown) such as a server, mobile phone, or other networked Internet of things (IoT) device.

The user interface ("UI") 510 allows a user of the electronic device to interact with electronic device 300. The UI 510 may generate a graphical user interface ("GUI") that allows a parent/caregiver to provide inputs on growth check data of a child. In some embodiments, the UI 510 generates a GUI that is displayed on touch sensitive screen ("touch screen"). The GUI may include one or more touch sensitive UI elements. For example, a user may be able to interact with the electronic device 500 and provide input by touching one or more of the touch sensitive UI elements displayed on touch sensitive screen and/or hovering over UI elements displayed on touch sensitive screen. The touch sensitive screen may comprise of a variety of display devices such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an e-ink display, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or another type of display device.

Figure 6 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an exemplary method of identifying a developmental disorder in a child, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The step by step procedure in identifying the developmental disorder in the child is explained herein as follows.

At step 602, one or more responses for the plurality of growth check parameters from one or more sources associated with a child is received. The one or more sources associated with the child comprises at least one of data received from external devices such as child monitor, an IoT device and one or more wearable devices worn by the child. At step 604, a developmental disorder present in a child is identified based on one or more responses received from the one or more sources. At step 606, a root cause for the developmental disorder is identified using data received from at least one of extracted child profile features and the corresponding growth check model. For the identified root cause, the present invention extracts at least one recommendation suitable for the identified developmental disorder at step 608. Then at step 610, the at least one extracted recommendation is provided as a notification on a display of the electronic device. Thus, the present invention not only helps in identifying early stage developmental disorders but also provides recommendations to act promptly on any disorders identified.

While the specification has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, may readily conceive of alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to these embodiments. These and other modifications and variations to the present invention may be practiced by those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing description is by way of example only, and is not intended to limit the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present subject matter covers such modifications and variations.

Claims

We claim Claims 1. A method for assessing early stage developmental delays of a child, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by a cluster managing module, at least one profile feature of a child via a user interface of an electronic device;

providing, by a recommendation engine, one or more recommendations based on the received child profile features, wherein the one or more recommendations comprises of plurality of growth check parameters for assessing developmental growth of the child;

receiving, by a response receiving module, one or more responses for the plurality of growth check parameters from a user;

analyzing, by a response analyzing module, the one or more received responses for calculating a performance score of the child; and

determining, by a developmental delay disorder checking module, whether a developmental disorder present in the child based on the performance score.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a report for the child based on the performance score, wherein the report comprises of summary of child progress over a period of time along with delays, and disorders observed during the period.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the growth check parameters is at least one of a text, question, date, activity, images, tests, audio, interactive application, wearable sensors and a combination of all.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a current developmental level based on performance of the child; comparing the current development level of the child with a preset standard level; identifying a developmental disorder based on the comparision;

identifying a root cause for the identified developmental disorder from at least one of extracted child profile features and the corresponding growth check model;

extracting at least one recommendation suitable for the identified developmental disorder; and

providing the at least one extracted recommendation as a notification on a display of the electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a developmental disorder present in the child comprises of:

identifying a development delay present in the child based on the one or more received responses; and

providing a new set of growth check parameters for determining a particular developmental disorder.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more responses are analyzed by at least one of:

comparing responses of the child with responses of children present in a cluster of children of a particular age;

comparing responses of the child with benchmarks set within the cluster of the child.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: creating a cluster by combining profile features of the child and a growth check model;

setting a benchmark for each cluster in the cluster group based on progressive data obtained from child profile extractor and a growth check model; and

automatically updating growth check model based on the responses received from the user.

An electronic device comprising:

A processor;

A memory coupled to the processor; and

a growth assessment and benchmarking unit operatively connected to the memory assessing early stage growth and developmental delays of a child further comprises a cluster managing module for receiving at least one profile feature and growth check data of the child from a growth check database via a user interface of an electronic device;

a recommendation engine for providing one or more recommendations based on the received profile feature and growth check data of the child, wherein the one or more recommendations comprises of plurality of growth check parameters for analyzing any developmental disorder;

a response receiving module for receiving one or more responses for the plurality of growth check parameters from a user;

a response analyzing module for analyzing, one or more responses for calculating a performance score of the child; and

a developmental delay disorder checking module for determining whether any developmental disorder occurs in the child based on the performance score.

Dated this the 25^th day of October 2017