Survey and Test Platform for Use in Underserved Populations

描述(由申请人提供)： 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，在首字母缩写“在服务不足的人群中使用的调查和测试平台，第二阶段(STEP-UP2)”下，提议扩展在这个STTR项目的第一阶段中创建的名为STEP-UP的原型硬件/软件平台。我们已经证明了该平台的可行性，该平台可以轻松地适应视觉测试领域中不同应用程序的硬件和软件服务，以类的形式运行，并以XML令牌的形式在这些类之间传递参数和数据。我们现在建议通过听觉、知觉和认知测试以及一系列用于访谈和自我报告目的的调查工具来扩大应用范围。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单一的便携式平台中。拟议的第二阶段单元的硬件将包括一台触摸屏便携式PC，带有外部平板屏幕、声卡和用于刺激演示的耳机；屏幕校准子系统；以及可选的下巴休息和凝视跟踪子系统。该系统将足够轻巧和便携，可以在从客厅到图书馆、从社区中心到养老院、从美国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。硬件将是实际耐用的，并具有内置的校准和监测服务；可选的凝视跟踪能力将继续是设计和原型的组成部分。该软件的图形用户界面将足够简单，允许非专业人员在通过内置屏幕课程进行简短说明后进行管理，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，扩大视听功能、注意力、认知以及健康与健康调查中的功能性数据收集平台；JHU团队在不同年龄的未受影响和特殊需要的广泛人群中验证集成测试和控制软件；此验证阶段将包括由受过最低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： 对服务不足的人群进行的健康研究，无论是在美国市中心和农村，还是在发展中国家，往往缺乏精确和通用的测试和调查工具，以及受过培训的操作这些工具的专业人员。这项提议的主要目标是进一步加强先前建造的基于平板电脑的原型测试和测量平台，该平台具有二级屏幕和高质量的声音，具有集成的校准和监测硬件和软件工具以及凝视跟踪子系统。升级后的系统将面向视觉和听觉功能、注意力、认知以及总体健康和健康的筛查测试和调查。社区中的测量员可以使用这样的平台来快速筛查可能需要医疗护理的感官和健康问题。

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.