The long term objective is to quickly and accurately measure infant volume in air so that the deduced rate of increase in lean-body mass can be correlated with the infant diet. Such routine measurements of body density should result in improved diet programs that reduce infant hospital confinement and mortality rate. Known devices for the measurement of infant body volume in air are subject to inaccuracies and long measurement times because the infants presence tends to increase the temperature and humidity . Air displacement and simple Helmholtz resonator schemes are sensitive to such changes. The proposed new device uses acoustic resonance principles that are expected to eliminate problems related to temperature and humidity changes. It is expected that very accurate measurements can be made in much less than a minute with inexpensive instrumentation that reads out the body-volume, density and estimated lean-body mass. The device should be inexpensive to manufacture and a product desired and eventually required by every hospital and clinic.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) - Phase II (R44)
Project #
5R44HD029328-03
Application #
2201731
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG7-SSS-8 (04))
Project Start
1992-06-15
Project End
1997-12-31
Budget Start
1994-09-01
Budget End
1997-12-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Hydronautics Research, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Fulton
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
20759