SBIR Phase II: An Integrated Biomedical Platform and Custom Algorithm to Optimize Feeding Protocols for Preterm Infants

SBIR 第二阶段：用于优化早产儿喂养方案的综合生物医学平台和定制算法

• 批准号: 2335207
• 负责人: Caryn Bradley
• 金额: $ 94.38万
• 依托单位: NEOCARE INNOVATIONS, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-15 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2335207&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Integrated; Biomedical

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project addresses the economic burdens of healthcare for preterm infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) across the US by lowering expenses through cost effective technology. On average 400,000 preterm infants are born in the US each year and 49% experience difficulty feeding after discharge. Preterm infants who cannot successfully feed are at increased risk of hospital readmission resulting in significant financial and emotional burdens for their families. In the US the average length of stay for an infant born less than 32 weeks gestation is 13.2 days. The current practice is for babies to remain longer in the NICU at an average cost of $7,000 per day and a national cost of more than $26 billion a year. An estimated 2-day reduction in length of stay with this biomedical device will lower the financial cost of overall neonatal healthcare expenditure by $8.9 billion annually and will reduce the need for future medical interventions because infants are discharged with a stronger early-stage health baseline. Once this product is commonly used in US hospitals, it can be distributed globally to meet demand and benefit infants worldwide.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project can save hospitals thousands of dollars while delivering better care and positive patient outcomes. For infants admitted to the NICU, successful oral feeding is a prerequisite for discharge home, but preterm infants often struggle with oral feeding skills largely due to problems coordinating swallowing with breathing. Achieving safe and efficient oral feeding in preterm infants is challenging because of these neurodevelopmental immaturities. Feeding progress is therefore limited by difficulties in maintaining cardiorespiratory stability. This biomedical platform and clinical algorithm interface use big data based on breathing patterns to quantify the synchronization of breathing and swallowing. A precise method of measuring infant breathing patterns during feeding gives clinicians a diagnostic tool to better inform decisions related to feeding advancement. This device provides objective metrics of feeding success and discharge readiness and may result in decreased readmissions for failure to thrive, substantially reducing healthcare utilizations and post-discharge expenditures. Creating technology that helps infants feed better so they can go home sooner promotes improved parent-infant interactions and optimizes infant development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第二阶段项目具有更广泛的影响/商业潜力，通过具有成本效益的技术降低费用，解决美国各地新生儿重症监护病房 (NICU) 早产儿的医疗保健经济负担。美国平均每年有 40 万早产儿出生，其中 49% 的早产儿在出院后出现喂养困难。无法成功喂养的早产儿再次入院的风险会增加，从而给家人带来巨大的经济和情感负担。在美国，妊娠 32 周以下出生的婴儿的平均住院时间为 13.2 天。目前的做法是让婴儿在新生儿重症监护室 (NICU) 停留的时间更长，平均每天的费用为 7,000 美元，全国每年的费用超过 260 亿美元。据估计，使用这种生物医学设备的住院时间缩短 2 天，每年将降低新生儿医疗保健总体支出的财务成本 89 亿美元，并将减少未来医疗干预的需求，因为婴儿出院时具有更强的早期健康基线。一旦该产品在美国医院得到普遍使用，它就可以在全球范围内分销，以满足需求并造福于全世界的婴儿。这个小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第二阶段项目可以为医院节省数千美元，同时提供更好的护理和积极的患者治疗结果。对于入住新生儿重症监护病房的婴儿来说，成功的经口喂养是出院回家的先决条件，但早产儿常常在经口喂养技巧上遇到困难，很大程度上是因为吞咽与呼吸的协调问题。由于早产儿的神经发育不成熟，实现安全有效的经口喂养具有挑战性。因此，维持心肺稳定性的困难限制了喂养进度。该生物医学平台和临床算法接口使用基于呼吸模式的大数据来量化呼吸和吞咽的同步性。测量喂养期间婴儿呼吸模式的精确方法为临床医生提供了一种诊断工具，可以更好地为与喂养进展相关的决策提供信息。 该设备提供喂养成功和出院准备情况的客观指标，并可能导致因发育不良而再次入院的情况减少，从而大大减少医疗保健利用率和出院后支出。创造帮助婴儿更好地喂养的技术，以便他们可以更快地回家，可以促进改善父母与婴儿的互动并优化婴儿的发育。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。