Improving Rural Access to Pediatric Healthcare with Accurate Telehealth Diagnosis of Acute Otitis Media using Smartphone Acoustic Reflectometry

项目总结 急性中耳炎(AOM)是每年儿科就诊的主要原因，85%以下的儿童受到影响 3岁。每年有1800万人因疑似AOM而就诊，这在今天是一个挑战 进行远程医疗，因为诊断传统上需要面对面的体检。这是 对于无法轻松获得医疗服务的农村儿童来说，这尤其是一个问题，导致可能 治疗中的并发症(听力损失、言语延迟、鼓膜穿孔)。当前的远程保健 服务机构缺乏成功进行中耳积液检查的技术，这是体检的关键发现 对于AOM来说。Wavely诊断公司正在为非专业用户开发一款基于智能手机的工具，该工具可以准确地检测到 远程医疗期间的中耳积液。我们的技术使用声反射仪-基于阻抗的 将声音从鼓膜上反射出来的技术-与机器学习算法配对以确定 中耳积液情况。在这个直接到第二阶段的SBIR项目中，具体目标是：1)开发现场 校准过程以推动智能手机的兼容性，2)临床验证中耳的准确性 体液检测设备与医生评估的比较，3)开发符合HIPAA标准的Wavely 与远程医疗平台集成的应用程序编程接口(API)，以及4)验证临床 Wavey中耳积液扫描仪在远程医疗环境中诊断AOM的应用预期中的 这项提议的结果是一种用于AOM检测的中耳液体扫描仪，将准备好大规模使用 通过支持农村人口的远程保健服务。鉴于智能手机在所有社区中无处不在， 最近远程保健使用的增加，特别是在农村社区，那里正在进行大量投资 宽带服务，以及对精确远程诊断的迫切需求，我们提议的系统具有 有可能显著改善农村社区1340万儿童获得医疗保健的机会。

PROJECT SUMMARY Acute otitis media (AOM) is a leading cause of pediatric visits each year, affecting 85% of children under the age of 3. There are 18 million annual doctor visits due to suspected AOM, which today are challenging to conduct over telehealth because diagnosis traditionally requires an in-person physical exam. This is particularly problematic for rural children who can’t easily access healthcare services leading to possible complications from under-treatment (hearing loss, speech delay, eardrum perforation). Current telehealth services lack technology to successfully conduct a middle ear fluid exam, the key finding of the physical exam for an AOM. Wavely Diagnostics is developing a smartphone-based tool for lay users that accurately detects middle ear fluid during a telehealth visit. Our technology uses acoustic reflectometry—an impedance-based technique that reflects sound chirps off the eardrum—paired with machine learning algorithms to determine middle ear fluid status. In this Direct to Phase II SBIR project, the specific aims are: 1) develop an in-field calibration process to drive compatibility across smartphones, 2) clinically demonstrate accuracy of middle ear fluid detection with device as compared to physician assessment, 3) develop a HIPAA-compliant Wavely Application Programing Interface (API) to integrate with a telemedicine platform, and 4) validate the clinical utility of Wavely Middle Ear Fluid Scanner for diagnosing AOM in a telemedicine setting. The expected outcome of this proposal is a Middle Ear Fluid Scanner for AOM detection that will be ready for widescale use by telehealth services supporting rural populations. Given the ubiquity of smartphones across all communities, recent rise in telehealth usage particularly in rural communities where significant investment is being made in broadband services, and the critical need for accurate remote diagnostics, our proposed system has the potential to significantly improve healthcare access for the 13.4 million children in rural communities.