Award Data

Recent research has shown that Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) may be used to measure the very weak magnetic signals in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at ultra-low magnetic fields in the milli-tesla range or below. However, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is quite low, requiring very long averaging times to obtain reasonable spatial resolution. Under the Phase I project, we ...

Military personnel must be protected from diseases transmitted by ticks and fleas, including Lyme disease. Effective surveillance of tick and flea vectors is vital to determine the population present, whether they are carrying disease, and whether control campaigns are working. Unfortunately, current surveillance tools are ineffective. In Phase I TDA designed, prototyped, and tested a novel ti ...

We propose to build a commercially viable spatial repellency device that requires no outside energy for activation (fire, electricity or air flow). Currently, no other indoor or outdoor spatial device exists that meets these criteria and no other device offers prolonged protection without refilling or replacing the device. Our development work relied heavily on using proven production techniques ...

We will continue developing a plasmonic metamaterial with strong absorption within a narrow band that is dynamically tunable over the 8-10 micron range. A metamaterial consisting of one or more bi-layers of thin metal and dielectric films will trap, concentrate and absorb a narrow frequency band while strongly reflecting out-of-band light. Tuning the frequency of the absorption band may be achiev ...

Civilian and military organizations throughout the world perform surveillance to combat vector-borne disease. Of particular concern to the U.S. military are mosquito genera Anopheles, Aedes and Culex, which are important vectors for malaria, dengue and West Nile virus respectively, and sand fly genera Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia, both vectors for leishmaniasis. The trap most commonly used for by U.S ...

Modern metagenomics studies on diverse microbiomes revealed immense repertoires of potential natural products/antibiotics to be tapped into.However, identifying such secondary metabolites (SMs) directly from a complex microbiome remains rarely successful due to two major technicalchallenges: i) difficulty in dissecting complex microbiome samples and massive metagenomics data, and ii) difficulty in ...

The goal of this project is to implement a Universal Exchange Language suitable for nationwide adoption across healthcare providers, and accessible to patients and medical researchers under appropriate protections for security and privacy, as envisioned in the 2010 PCAST report on Health Information Technology. The team combines unique expertise on (a) the design and implementation of data managem ...

CPSI Biotech personnel have developed solutions and devices for the cryopreservation and hypothermic storage of human cells and tissues. Devices being -tested include SmartFreeze and SmartThaw - instruments designed for the improved cryopreservation and thawing of stem cells to be used for stem cell therapy. This SBIR grant application proposes to identify pre-conditioning and post-conditioning ...

Multiple studies have identified physiological and behavioral variables that are associated with pain intensity in critical care patients. In this phase of the research, we propose to investigate the feasibility of developing a multi-modality pain intensity detection algorithm predicated on physiological and behavioral indicators of pain as well as designing a plan to"calibrate"and validate the pa ...

Combat medics can quickly be overcome with the variety and number of injuries received by fellow warfighters. Virtual Interactive Presence and Augmented Reality (VIPAR) systems already in place have shown great potential in alleviating these problems, but require too many prerequisites to use in the field. Expensive and specialized pieces of hardware are an additional strain on warfighters, and of ...