Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over 5 million word recognition tests are administered annually by audiologists in the United States with an associated cost of more than $100 million. These tests are currently performed manually by highly trained audiologists. This application describes the Phase II development of automated clinical speech recognition tests using clinical test recordings and ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project seeks to develop an earphone for diagnostic audiometry with features that will significantly increase the efficiency and decrease the cost of routine hearing testing. The most-often used earphones emply a supra-aural design that has several undesirable characteristics, including 1) an "occlusion effect", an artificial increase in sensitivity to bon ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cationic lipid-like compounds are commonly used in vitro and in vivo to deliver DNA to cells for the purposes of expressing exogenous genes. A number of clinical trials have indicated the promise of these agents for gene therapy, however lipid-based delivery remains less effective than the alternative viral vectors. Nevertheless, vast improvements have been mad ...

Significant recent research has shown that breath biomarkers are excellent indicators of oxidative stress caused by conditions ranging from radiation exposure to COPD. Current techniques for collection, concentration, and analysis of exhaled breath do not support real-time analysis, or require complex and bulky equipment. Streamline Automation, LLC will develop a portable Breath BioDetector in p ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this project is to develop a novel method for MRI quantification of postinfarct myocardial viability. Ultimately, the commercial embodiment of this method will be a software package that will convert a set of 2D cardiac MRI images to a 3D Myocardial Viability Map (MV) with a voxel-by-voxel resolution. In human clinical use, the package woul ...

The ability to train novice operators on a variety of tasks through automated training systems provides a cost effective and timely solution for a number of applications. The training regimen required for military personnel lends itself to automated training systems. In order to overcome some of the challenges and shortfalls of the traditional intelligent training systems, a strong normative or ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this proposal is to provide proof-of-concept that a novel therapy that prevents complement activation could be effective in reducing ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) in transplanted organs. Complement activation after IRI in transplanted organs is a well-known phenomenon that may be responsible for delayed graft function and the hastening of ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Psoriasis is a common immune-mediated disease that affects approximately 2% of the US and European populations and significantly impacts the quality of life. T cells are recognized as primary mediators of the disease and new generation therapies aimed at eliminating reactive T cells or interfering with the immunologic cascade caused by their activation have bee ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the Internet-Based Savvy Caregiver (IBSC) program is to develop and bring to market an Internet-based psycho-educational program designed to provide persons caring for relatives who have dementing disorders the knowledge, skills, and outlook they need to undertake and succeed in the caregiving role they have assumed. The IBSC program is comp ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A rapid detection system can be readily developed to prevent bacterial contamination in platelet concentrates that are intended for transfusion. Bacteria contamination of platelet concentrates intended for transfusion, represents the most frequent transfusion-associated infectious risk. Bacterial contamination levels as low as 102 to 103 CFU/ml have been ass ...