The goal of this proposal is the development of Computer-Aided Instrument Design (CAID) tools and resources for the creation of embedded biomedical instruments. The Phase I work has demonstrated the conceptual feasibility of our approach through the development of a programmable, portable, hardware platform and a reusable set of software libraries. These tools and libraries were used to create a prototype of a Cardiac Monitor instrument. The Phase II work is aimed at expanding and improving the existing rudimentary CAID tools and resources to create a complete, turnkey environment for the design of many different physiological instruments. The Phase II work will additionally involve creating and testing two representative instruments: one will be an advanced ECG research device suggested and defined by our collaborators at JHU (Johns Hopkins University); the other will be an Airway Monitor, suggested and defined by our collaborators at EVMS (Eastern Virginia Medical School).
The potential commercial opportunities of our proposed technology are compelling. In addition to our selected Phase II experimental projects, various potential collaborators suggested applications including: an advanced Holter monitor with real-time detection of specific arrhythmias, fetal heart monitors (using acoustic-based sensors of different technologies), vital signs acquisition and logging, ambulatory/portable EEG devices for sleep studies, seizure, and brain injury detection, and many others.
