STTR Phase I: An Integrated Biomedical Platform and Custom Algorithm to Optimize Feeding Protocols for Preterm Infants

这项小企业技术转移（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力改善了新生儿重症监护病房（NICUs）早产儿的预后。美国每年平均有518,000名早产儿出生，其中49%的早产儿在出院后难以喂养。不能成功喂养的早产儿再次住院的风险增加。在美国，有22,721张新生儿重症监护病房床位，怀孕32周以下婴儿的平均住院时间为13.2天。目前的做法是让婴儿在新生儿重症监护病房呆得更久，平均每天花费7000美元，全国每年的费用超过260亿美元。本项目提出了一种新的进料监测系统。据估计，使用该设备的住院时间减少2天，每年将使新生儿总体医疗保健支出的财务成本降低89亿美元，并将减少对未来医疗干预的需求，因为婴儿出院时早期健康基线较强。这个小企业技术转移（STTR）第一阶段项目促进了新生儿重症监护病房的护理。对于入住新生儿重症监护室的婴儿，成功的口腔喂养是出院的先决条件，但早产儿往往难以掌握口腔喂养技巧，因为吞咽与呼吸难以协调。由于这些神经发育不成熟，对早产儿进行安全有效的口服喂养具有挑战性。因此，进食进展受到维持心肺稳定困难的限制。所提出的生物医学平台和临床算法接口使用描述呼吸模式的大数据来量化呼吸和吞咽的同步。在喂养过程中测量婴儿呼吸模式的精确方法为临床医生提供了一种诊断工具，以便更好地为与喂养有关的决策提供信息。该装置提供了投料成功和出院准备的客观指标。这将导致减少再入院失败茁壮成长，大大减少医疗保健的利用和出院后的支出。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 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project improves outcomes for preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). On average 518,000 preterm infants are born in the US each year and 49% experience difficulty feeding after discharge. Preterm infants who cannot successfully feed are at increased risk of hospital readmission. In the US, there are 22,721 NICU beds and the average length of stay for an infant born less than 32 weeks gestation is 13.2 days. The current practice is for babies to remain longer in the NICU at an average cost of $7,000 per day and a national cost of more than $26 billion a year. This project advances a new feeding monitoring system. An estimated 2-day reduction in length of stay with this device will lower the financial cost of overall neonatal healthcare expenditure by $8.9 billion annually and will reduce the need for future medical interventions because infants are discharged with a stronger early-stage health baseline. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project advances NICU care. For infants admitted to the NICU, successful oral feeding is a prerequisite for discharge home, but preterm infants often struggle with oral feeding skills, due to problems coordinating swallowing with breathing. Achieving safe and efficient oral feeding in preterm infants is challenging because of these neurodevelopmental immaturities. Feeding progress is therefore limited by difficulties in maintaining cardiorespiratory stability. The proposed biomedical platform and clinical algorithm interface uses big data describing breathing patterns to quantify the synchronization of breathing and swallowing. A precise method of measuring infant breathing patterns during feeding gives clinicians a diagnostic tool to better inform decisions related to feeding advancement. This device provides objective metrics of feeding success and discharge readiness. It will result in decreased readmissions for failure to thrive, substantially reducing healthcare utilizations and post-discharge expenditures.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.