Northeastern University (NeuroSense Diagnostics) – Infant Suck Monitoring App

Industry
Social media
Project type
Case study
Date
March 7th, 2024

Project details

AI-powered computer vision system to support non-invasive, early diagnosis of feeding challenges in newborns.
In collaboration with researchers at Northeastern University, we helped bring to life NeuroSense Diagnostics—a research-to-product initiative aimed at improving developmental outcomes for infants. The solution uses computer vision and facial landmark detection to monitor infant sucking behavior via mobile devices, offering an affordable and accessible alternative to traditional NICU tools.

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Weeks to launch from client brief
to MVP

Challenge

Premature and at-risk infants often struggle with feeding, and traditional clinical assessments are subjective, manual, and inconsistent—typically relying on gloved-finger evaluations or observation. There was no scalable, remote, or affordable solution to track and assess non nutritive sucking (NNS), which is critical for early intervention and neurodevelopmental support.

The NEU team needed a technology partner to turn their cutting-edge academic research into a functioning mobile app with a robust AI model running in real-time.

Approach

We partnered with NEU’s Speech and Neurodevelopment Lab and the Augmented Cognition Lab to design and build a mobile application that uses facial landmark detection models to assess infant mouth movement during pacifier use. The model captures subtle muscle movements and identifies the presence of sucking patterns, which are essential for diagnosing NNS development.

The app is designed to be used by clinicians and researchers in both hospital and home settings, using only a smartphone or tablet camera.

Outcome

The project resulted in a fully functional AI-powered mobile prototype capable of running video-based sucking assessments and logging patient sessions for further review. This version is currently supporting further research and grant applications, and is expected to dramatically reduce the cost and subjectivity of infant feeding assessments while improving clinical outcomes through earlier interventions.

What We Did

01/AI Product Scoping

02/Facial Landmark Detection Integration

03/Mobile App Development

04/Research Support & Iteration

Our Portfolio