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

这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力旨在通过具有成本效益的技术降低费用，解决美国各地新生儿重症监护病房(NICU)早产儿的医疗保健经济负担。美国每年平均有40万早产儿出生，其中49%的早产儿在出院后喂养困难。不能成功喂养的早产儿再次住院的风险增加，从而给他们的家庭带来巨大的经济和情感负担。在美国，孕周不到32周的婴儿平均住院时间为13.2天。目前的做法是让婴儿在NICU停留更长时间，平均每天花费7000美元，全国每年花费超过260亿美元。据估计，使用这种生物医学设备的住院时间减少2天，每年将减少新生儿保健总支出的财务成本89亿美元，并将减少未来医疗干预的需求，因为婴儿出院时有更强的早期健康基线。一旦该产品在美国医院普遍使用，它就可以在全球分销，以满足需求并使世界各地的婴儿受益。这个小企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目可以为医院节省数千美元，同时提供更好的护理和积极的患者结果。对于NICU的婴儿来说，成功的口腔喂养是出院的先决条件，但早产儿经常在口腔喂养技能方面遇到困难，这主要是由于吞咽和呼吸协调方面的问题。由于这些神经发育不成熟，在早产儿中实现安全和有效的口服喂养是具有挑战性的。因此，由于难以维持心肺系统的稳定，喂养进展受到限制。这个生物医学平台和临床算法接口使用基于呼吸模式的大数据来量化呼吸和吞咽的同步性。一种精确测量喂养过程中婴儿呼吸模式的方法为临床医生提供了一种诊断工具，以更好地为与喂养进展相关的决策提供信息。该设备提供了喂养成功和出院准备情况的客观衡量标准，并可能导致因无法茁壮成长而再次入院的人数减少，从而显著减少医疗保健利用率和出院后支出。创造帮助婴儿更好地喂养以便他们可以更快回家的技术，促进改善亲婴互动并优化婴儿发育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project addresses the economic burdens of healthcare for preterm infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) across the US by lowering expenses through cost effective technology. On average 400,000 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 resulting in significant financial and emotional burdens for their families. In the US 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. An estimated 2-day reduction in length of stay with this biomedical 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. Once this product is commonly used in US hospitals, it can be distributed globally to meet demand and benefit infants worldwide.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project can save hospitals thousands of dollars while delivering better care and positive patient outcomes. For infants admitted to the NICU, successful oral feeding is a prerequisite for discharge home, but preterm infants often struggle with oral feeding skills largely 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. This biomedical platform and clinical algorithm interface use big data based on 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 and may result in decreased readmissions for failure to thrive, substantially reducing healthcare utilizations and post-discharge expenditures. Creating technology that helps infants feed better so they can go home sooner promotes improved parent-infant interactions and optimizes infant development.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.