NIH announced two companion Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) to encourage grant applicants to use funding to develop and evaluate systems capable of monitoring health, provide ways to enable clinical decisions, and develop ways to deliver therapies in a real-time. The FOAs are not only seeking ideas for technologies in general but also want to receive applications involving novel technologies to help individuals live independently especially Americans with chronic conditions.
Specifically, the FOAs are seeking technologies to enable the monitoring of personal motions, vital signs, and physiological measures so that there is minimal disruption to an individual’s daily routine but at all times to protect their privacy, dignity, and comfort.
These systems need to be able to integrate, process, analyze, communicate, and present data so that individuals are engaged and empowered in their own healthcare with reduced burden to care providers. The technologies will need to be interoperable with other home-based or mobile technologies and be able to communicate with existing health information technology systems.
In developing effective applications for home-based and mobile technologies, applicants need to provide solutions on how to help and increase adherence to rehabilitation and medical regimens, reduce incidence of avoidable post acute complications, and improve self-care management of chronic conditions.
Technologies designed for home and mobile monitoring will be able to capture rare, irregular, or transient events, symptoms that are difficult for a patient to report, and changes in conditions that evolve slowly over time.
Examples of some of the topics for this funding opportunity include but are not limited to:
• Monitoring devices or sensors to detect personal care needs or acute medical events
• Devices to ensure adherence to rehabilitation and medical regimens
• Real-time monitoring and management of chronic conditions
• Monitoring systems to detect progressive decline in physical and cognitive abilities
• Fall detection or prevention systems
• Technologies aimed at helping the caregiver or provider
• Research and development to improve human computer interfaces for home-use technologies
The FOAs (PAR-11-020 and PAR-11-021) were issued by several institutes to include NIBID, NIA, NICHD, NINR and the Office of Research on Women’s Health. Submissions are accepted throughout the year by specific dates. The first submission date is December 19, 2010.
For more information, go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-11-020.html and http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-11.021.html
