The PHS 2008-2 Omnibus Solicitation for SBIR/STTR grant applications for NIH, CDC, and FDA recently opened. NIH is interested in numerous topics addressing new technologies. In general, there is interest for small research companies to develop software and hardware, biosensors, monitoring systems to be used at the point-of-care, telehealth and ehealth technologies, medical devices, to do research in biomedical informatics, new tools to analyze clinical trial results and transmit the data, new imaging capabilities, virtual reality applications, assistive technologies to use for the disabled, effective databases to collect extensive medical information, plus develop other technologies for other applications.
These SBIR/STTR topics focus on telehealth, ehealth, health IT and other closely related technologies:
- The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering seeks telehealth software and hardware to use in situations with broad applications as well as in specific focus areas
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse wants to see the development of ehealth software and hardware to promote the efficacy and safety of clinical trials being done to study substance abuse. NIDA wants to see ways that telemedicine can be used to disseminate drug addiction research findings to primary healthcare providers. NIDA is also interested in the development of an electronic drug abuse treatment referral system
- The National Institute of Nursing Research seeks telehealth technologies to improve patient outcomes. NINR wants to be able to assess traumatic injury severity at remote sites and transmit this information to acute care settings, be able to communicate vital signs and symptoms for home-based clients to healthcare providers in distant locations, and be able to tailor care for diverse patients in a wide variety of settings. The NINR is seeking biological and behavioral monitoring devices for patients at-risk living in underserved populations in rural and frontier areas
- The National Institute of Mental Health seeks technology to enable neuroscientists to electronically interact with colleagues and provide data at a distance. NIMH is also interested in developing capabilities to monitor and analyze the behavior of children using video or telemetry systems
- The National Cancer Institute is looking for ways to better use telemedicine and remote imaging for early cancer detection, screening, and diagnosis in underserved communities. NCI’s Center to Reduce Cancer Disparities is looking for communication technologies to help professionals deal with health literacy
- The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is interested in health IT to be able to adopt and implement asthma clinical practice guidelines. NHLBI wants to see research done to better develop information systems to coordinate patient management, use point-of-care devices to monitor patients, plus help patients adhere to medical regimens
Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbirsttr1/2008-2_SBIR-STTR-topics.doc for complete information on all of the topics. The closing dates for 2008 submissions are April 5, August 5, and December 5. For more information on the program, go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm (NIH Office of Extramural Research).
