SBIR Phase I: Auto Pairing Direct to Cellular Telehealth Gateway for Improved COVID-19 Home Health Monitoring Adherence

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括消除与老年人和技术打交道的两个主要障碍的能力：用户界面和互联网可用性。该方法利用最近(2019)窄带物联网(NB-IoT)的全国网络覆盖，实现了直接到蜂窝低带宽应用的低功耗、低成本接入。与当前基于智能手机的系统相比，直接到蜂窝网关的自动配对为新冠肺炎诊断出的患者提供了在家中有效监测症状的能力，从而改善了疾病影响跟踪和监测的遵从性，同时减少了医院需求、疾病传播和系统成本。目前的系统需要长时间的用户培训和账户设置，以及在每次读取期间使用应用程序进行繁琐的测量数据传输。这种当前具有挑战性的界面将被不需要设置或与用户直接交互的单个设备所取代。该方法极大地简化了与疾病相关的测量，同时减少了配置设备并送到最终用户手中的时间和成本。虽然专注于新冠肺炎监测，但该技术也为老年人有效地采用远程医疗进行慢性护理监测提供了广泛的应用。这一小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在提供一种更具成本效益的解决方案，并使更多的人能够更好地采用和遵守长期的居家自我监测的老年人和高危人群诊断为新冠肺炎。该项目的研究目标包括展示一种直接与蜂窝设备自动配对的设备，该设备满足全球新冠肺炎应急解决方案对新冠肺炎监测的要求。研究方法包括：演示具有优化窄带性能的设计；演示FCC/IC终端单元认证；以及演示网络认证所需的测试。这一第一阶段项目的预期技术成果使基于智能手机的监测系统成为进入老年人口进行慢性护理监测的门户。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I project includes the ability to eliminate two of the primary barriers in dealing with seniors and technology: user interfaces and internet availability. The approach makes use of recent (2019) national network coverage for Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) enabling low power, low cost access for direct to cellular low bandwidth applications. The auto pairing direct to cellular gateway provides COVID-19 diagnosed patients with the capability to effectively monitor symptoms from home resulting in improved disease impact tracking and monitoring adherence while reducing hospital demand, disease spread, and system costs over current smart phone-based system. Current systems require lengthy user training and account setup as well as cumbersome measurement data transfers using an app during each reading. This currently challenging interface would be replaced with a single device requiring no set up or direct interaction with the user. The approach greatly simplifies and streamlines the disease related measurements while reducing the time and cost of getting devices provisioned and into the end users’ hands. Although focused on COVID-19 monitoring, the technology also provides broad application for effective telemedicine adoption by seniors for chronic care monitoring. This Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to provide a solution which is more cost effective and enables greater adoption and compliance for long-term, in-home, self-monitoring of seniors and at-risk populations diagnosed with COVID-19. The research goals of this project include demonstrating an auto pairing direct to cellular device that meets the requirements for COVID-19 monitoring under the global COVID-19 Emergency Response Solution. The research approach includes: demonstrating a design with optimized narrow band performance; demonstrating FCC/IC end unit certification; and demonstrating testing required for network certifications. The anticipated technical results of this Phase I project enable smartphone-based monitoring systems and a gateway into senior populations for chronic care monitoring.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.