Survey and Test Platform for Use in Underserved Populations

描述（由申请人提供）： 在首字母缩略词“用于服务不足人群的调查和测试平台，第二阶段（STeP-UP 2）”下，先进医疗电子公司与约翰霍普金斯大学医学院和几个二级合作伙伴合作，提议扩展在STTR项目第一阶段创建的名为STeP-UP的原型硬件/软件平台。我们已经证明了一个平台，可以很容易地适应硬件和软件服务与不同的应用程序在视觉测试领域运行的类，参数和数据作为XML令牌在这些类之间传递的可行性。现在，我们建议扩大应用范围的听觉，知觉和认知测试，以及一系列的调查工具，访谈和自我报告的目的。我们已经获得了几个研究人员和公司的承诺，他们有兴趣将他们的测试和调查捆绑到一个便携式平台上。申报的第2阶段装置的硬件将包括一台触摸屏便携式PC，配有外部平板屏幕、声卡和耳机，用于刺激呈现;屏幕校准子系统;以及可选的下巴托和凝视跟踪子系统。该系统重量轻，便携式，可以在从起居室到图书馆，从社区中心到养老院，从美国的内城和农村县到整个发展中国家的各种环境中管理各种测试和调查仪器。硬件将是物理耐用的，并有内置的校准和监测服务;可选的视线跟踪能力将继续是设计和原型的一个组成部分。该软件的图形用户界面将十分简单，非专业人员可以按照内置屏幕课程的简短指示进行管理，并将具有内置冗余和错误检查功能。 该项目第二阶段的目标是，AME团队与外部研究人员和公司合作，扩大视觉和听觉功能、注意力、认知以及健康和保健调查的功能数据收集平台; JHU团队在不同年龄的未受影响和有特殊需要的受试者的广泛人群中验证综合测试和控制软件;这一验证阶段将包括由受过最低限度培训的个人进行测试和调查管理。这应该构成多个供应商的生产和营销计划的基础。 公共卫生相关性： 对服务不足人群的健康研究，无论是在美国的内城和农村还是在发展中国家，往往缺乏精确和通用的测试和调查仪器，以及训练有素的专业人员来操作这些仪器。该提案的主要目标是进一步加强以前建造的原型测试和调查平台，该平台基于一台平板电脑，配有辅助屏幕和高质量的声音，并配有综合校准和监测硬件和软件工具以及视线跟踪子系统。升级后的系统将用于视力和听力功能、注意力、认知能力以及一般健康和保健的筛查测试和调查。这样的平台可以被社区的调查员用来快速筛查可能需要医疗照顾的感官和健康问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Under the acronym "Survey and Test Platform for use in Underserved Populations, Phase II (STeP- UP2)," Advanced Medical Electronics Corp, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and several secondary partners, proposes to expand the prototype hardware/software platform called STeP-UP created in the first phase of this STTR project. We have demonstrated the feasibility of a platform that can easily accommodate hardware and software services with different applications in the field of vision testing running as classes, and parameters and data being passed among these classes as XML tokens. We now propose to broaden the range of applications with auditory, perceptual, and cognitive tests, as well as a range of survey instruments for interview and self-reporting purposes. We have obtained commitments from several researchers and companies interested in bundling their tests and surveys into a single portable platform. The hardware for the proposed phase 2 units will consist of a touch screen portable PC with an external flat screen, sound card, and earphones for stimulus presentation; screen calibration subsystem; and optional chin rest and gaze tracking subsystem. The system will be sufficiently light-weight and portable to administer a variety of tests and survey instruments in settings ranging from living rooms to libraries, from community centers to nursing homes, and from inner cities and rural counties in the US to locations throughout the developing world. The hardware will be physically durable and have built-in calibration and monitoring services; optional gaze- tracking capability will continue to be an integral part of the design and prototype. The graphical user interface of the software will be sufficiently simple to allow administration by non-professionals, following a brief instruction through a built-in on-screen course, and will have built-in redundancy and error checking. The objective for phase 2 of the project is for the AME team to work with outside researchers and companies to expand the platform for functional data collection in visual and auditory function, attention, cognition, and health and wellness surveys; and for the JHU team to validate the integrated test and control software in a wide-ranging population of unaffected and special needs subjects of varying ages; this validation stage will include test and survey administration by minimally trained individuals. This should form the basis for a production and marketing program by multiple vendors. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Health studies of underserved populations, whether in the inner city and rural US or in the developing world, often lack precise and versatile test and survey instruments, and trained professionals to operate these instruments. The major objective of this proposal is to further enhance a previously constructed prototype test and survey platform based on a tablet PC with a secondary screen and high quality sound, with integrated calibration and monitoring hardware and software tools and a gaze-tracking subsystem. The upgraded system will be geared towards screening tests and surveys of visual and auditory function, attention, cognition, and health and wellness in general. Such a platform can be used by surveyors in the community to rapidly screen for sensory and wellness problems that may warrant medical attention.