I-Corps: Non-invasive Indirect Calorimetry using Transdermal Optical Sensors for Diagnosis and Treatment of Metabolic Diseases

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种实时测量卡路里燃烧的光学传感器。提出的技术解决了医生和营养师准确绘制患者代谢率的需求，这可能为指导适当的营养提供信息，并显着降低重病患者的费用。此外，专业运动员和健身行业的其他人可能会利用这种技术进一步发展和跟踪他们的表现，为他们的教练和运动医学人员提供重要的信息。目前的标准技术，如代谢车，体积大，成本高（5万美元），需要密集的培训和人员操作。作为一种廉价的替代方案，临床医生依靠粗略的计算和每日体重测量来指导患者的营养。这些预测方程往往不准确，不具有包容性，只适用于人口的一个子集。营养师很难对各种各样的患者做出估计，尤其是早产儿和肥胖、接受肝脏移植手术或患有甲状腺疾病的患者。来自所建议设备的准确代谢信息可以显著提高护理质量，减少再入院率、住院时间和并发症，并有助于降低成本和积极的医疗保健结果。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种光学传感器，用于评估血液中特殊气体分析物的浓度，从而量化最终用户的代谢率。目标是将代谢传感器作为一种可穿戴设备来测量患者四肢（手指或耳朵）的卡路里输出。代谢率传感器采用透皮或经皮，非侵入式光学传感器，测量血液中的二氧化碳（CO2）和氧气（O2）水平。入射光与通过组织收集的光的比例将提供计算患者能量消耗所需的数据。当热量燃料在氧气的存在下在体内燃烧时，在呼出之前就会产生二氧化碳。传感器系统采用低成本的发光二极管（led）和光电二极管来测量O2和CO2光谱标记特定波长的光的吸收和散射。从Weir方程中采用的专有算法可以从连续光谱测量中实时估计燃烧的卡路里数量。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 I-Corps project is the development of an optical sensor that measures calories burned in real time. The proposed technology addresses the need for physicians and dieticians to accurately map a patient’s metabolic rate, which may provide information to assist in guiding proper nutrition and significantly reduce costs in seriously ill patients. In addition, professional athletes and others in the fitness industry may utilize such a technology to further develop and track their performance, providing crucial information to their coaches and sports medicine personnel. Current standard technologies, such as the metabolic cart, are large, cost-prohibitive ($50K), and require intensive training and personnel for operation. As an inexpensive alternative, clinicians rely on crude calculations and daily weight measurements to guide patient nutrition. These predictive equations are often not accurate and are non-inclusive, only applying to a subset of the population. Dietitians struggle with making estimates for a variety of patients, especially for premature infants and patients that are obese, undergoing liver transplant surgeries, or suffering from thyroid problems. Accurate metabolic information from the proposed device may significantly increase quality of care, reduce readmission rates, length of stay, and complications, and contribute to reduced costs and positive healthcare outcomes.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an optical sensor that evaluates peculiar gas analyte concentrations in the bloodstream to quantify the end-user’s metabolic rate. The goal is to implement the metabolism sensor as a wearable device to measure calorie output from a patient’s extremity (finger or ear). The metabolic rate sensor utilizes a transdermal or transcutaneous, non-invasive optical sensor that measures carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) levels in the blood. The ratio of incident light to collected light through tissue will provide the data needed to calculate the patient’s energy expenditure. As caloric fuel is burned in the body in the presence of O2, CO2 is produced before being exhaled. The sensor system employs low-cost light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodiodes to measure the absorption and scattering of light at wavelengths specific to spectral markers of O2 and CO2. A proprietary algorithm adopted from the Weir equation estimates the number of calories burned in real time from continuous spectral measurement.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.