Eye Tracking and Autism in Former Preterm Infants

August 10, 2026 updated by: Pyone David, Indiana University

Eye-Tracking Biomarkers for Early Autism Detection in Former Preterm Infants

This is a single center, intervention study of integrating the eye-tracking (ET) biomarker battery into the existing autism evaluation process at the Riley Early Years Program (EYP). Eligible participants referred for autism testing through EYP will undergo a traditional comprehensive diagnostic assessment by an EYP clinical psychologist.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Indiana
      • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46202
        • Riley Hospital for Children
        • Contact:
          • Hannah Rykovich, RN
          • Phone Number: 317-274-4708
          • Email: hsrakow@iu.edu

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children born at <37 weeks' gestational age who are 14-48 months old at time of referral
  • Ambulatory (i.e., cruising, walking)
  • Without significant visual impairment
  • Referred for autism testing through EYP (i.e. medium- or high-risk M-CHAT-R/F screening result at 16-22 months corrected age or by referral to Early Years based on caregiver or provider concern for autism)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-English-speaking participants and families.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention
Eye-tracking device
Device: Eye-tracking device
Eye-tracking device for autism detection
Other Names:
  • Tobii Eye-Tracker 5L

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of participants with usable eye-tracking biomarker data
Time Frame: Day 1
The number of participants from whom usable eye-tracking biomarker data is collected will be totaled.
Day 1
Number of participants with suspected autism
Time Frame: Day 1
The number of participants whose eye-tracker data suggest a potential autism diagnosis will be totaled.
Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Caregiver attitudes towards use of the eye-tracking device
Time Frame: Day 1
Caregiver attitudes will be measured toward healthcare devices form. Caregivers will rate their openness to the use of devices or computer programs in medical care and how important the details of using these devices are to them. Participants will respond to questions on a 5 point Likert scale from "Not Important" to "Extremely Important."
Day 1
Individual and Family Predictors (IFP)
Time Frame: Day 1
Sociodemographic familial history and medical history information for the infant participant will be collected.
Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Indiana University

Collaborators

Indiana University Health

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Pyone David, MD, Indiana University
  • Principal Investigator: Rebecca McNally Keehn, PhD, Indiana University
  • Principal Investigator: Edgardo Szyld, MD, Indiana University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

January 4, 2027

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 3, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

January 3, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 10, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 14, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 10, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 31847

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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