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Phase I
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2W iTech LLC
SBIR Phase I: High Flux Thin Film Nanocomposite Reverse Osmosis Membrane
Contact
7964 Arjons Drive
San Diego, CA 92126–4392
NSF Award
1647637 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to mitigate the global freshwater crisis. Water supplies are under stress in many areas of the world. Securing a supply of fresh water to meet the needs of population growth and increased industrialization is a global challenge. The proposed technology in this SBIR project will offer an opportunity to produce large scale high performance RO membranes in a continuous format at low cost to facilitate lower cost water purification. Phase I of this program will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach in a batch format and lay a solid foundation for large through-put continuous production. This program will also enable further scientific/technological understanding on zeolite nanocrystal synthesis, self-assembly based on static charge interaction and chemical reaction. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to develop a commercially viable spray based layer by layer (LbL) deposition approach to fabricate thin film nanocomposite (TFN) RO membranes with more process control. Current RO purification systems require a high driving pressure mainly because of low water flux and fouling of the membranes. The proposed approach allows fabrication of highly cross-linked polyamide (PA) nanocomposite membranes with nanometer control over the film thickness, minimal roughness, uniform nanoparticle distribution, and defined local chemical and polymer composition. Compared with traditional reverse osmosis PA membranes, significant benefits can be expected from the proposed membrane including 2 to 3 times improvement in water flux, lower driving pressure, and less fouling and ease for cleaning. This SBIR program aims to develop a spray assembly technology to fabricate highly cross-linked TFN membranes on a porous support.
Errata
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Addenda
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AEye Labs, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Automated Census of Street Trees from Public Imagery
Contact
166 S Parkwood Ave
Pasadena, CA 91107–4712
NSF Award
1648144 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
02/01/2017 – 01/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is that it will lead to more numerous and healthier city trees throughout the US. It will impact climate, energy, air and water quality and livability. This will be achieved through more effective and efficient management of the urban forest by municipalities, and through more and better organized citizen participation. Trees are a valuable asset for a community. Their benefits include: a reduction in energy use; improvement in air and water quality; increased carbon capture and storage; increased property values; and an improvement in individual and community well-being. To ensure maximum benefit and minimum cost, street trees need to be managed efficiently. In order to do this, municipalities need up-to-date inventories of trees. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project intends to automatically generate inventories of street trees from aerial and street-view imagery using cutting-edge computer vision and machine learning techniques. The inventory contains each tree's GPS location, its species, trunk diameter and an estimate of its health. The inventory is updated every time a new aerial or street-view image becomes available. Both tree detection and tree species classification are unprecedented applications based on combining the learning capabilities of deep convolutional networks, 3D geometry, and large annotated datasets that are collected by a combination of experts and crowdsourcing. This innovation makes it possible to maintain an always up-to-date, accurate, complete, US-wide street tree inventory at a fraction of the current cost.
Errata
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Addenda
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AIpiphany, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Delivering Medical translations with a Health Belief Model Recommender Engine
Contact
1415 Park Ave W
Denver, CO 80205–2103
NSF Award
1647377 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$269,906
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of a first-in-class patient education tool. The project aims to develop a method to customize and personalize the delivery of medical content with the goal of influencing medication compliance and health outcomes. Imagine patients are discharged from the hospital and understand their discharge instructions. Imagine patients fill a list of ten medications but understand what they are for and why they need to take them. Imagine patients recently diagnosed with cancer that do not feel embarrassed to ask their doctor questions. Imagine parents caring for sick children or older children caring for elderly parents that feel assured of their ability to get the best care for loved ones. Imagine a reduction in sick days, hospital readmission rates, and morbidity and mortality rates. Imagine an overall improvement in the quality of care and health of the nation all due to the simple ingredients of patient understanding and patient empowerment. The proposed project will produce a novel tool to deliver medical content to patients based of an assessment of their limiting beliefs and perceptions. It has long been established that the effectiveness of medical interventions aimed at changing behavior are limited by patient's perceptions and beliefs. The proposed project will result in the development of novel algorithms that use machine-learning (ML) based techniques to determine limiting beliefs. The goal is to customize patient education and medical content to the beliefs, perception, and language of the patients.
Errata
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Addenda
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ALA Scientific Instruments, Inc.
STTR Phase I: fMRI Dynamic Phantom for Improved Detection of Resting-State Brain Networks
Contact
60 Marine Street
Farmingdale, NY 11735–3333
NSF Award
1622525 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to dramatically improve the detection sensitivity of resting-state fMRI. In recent years, large-scale ($150M- $1.2B USD) and long-term (10-12 year) international investments (e.g., NIH Human Connectome Project, White House BRAIN Initiative, UK Biobank, EU Human Brain Project) have expanded the reach of human fMRI to include faster pulse sequences and more complex analytic tools, higher field strength, integration with multi-scale experiments and modeling, and an emphasis on integration of data across multiple scanner/study sites. This generation of fMRI studies goes beyond the original simplistic models that focused upon activation maps, to investigate connections, networks, and dynamic nonlinear circuits in the brain. New ways of thinking are being applied to some of our highest-impact areas of societal interest, ranging from clinical depression, addiction, autism, and brain injury, to age-based cognitive degeneration. However, while fMRI research dramatically accelerates, quality assurance protocols for the MRI machines needed to generate these findings have lagged far behind, relying upon static phantom protocols no longer fully capable of targeting quality control issues relevant to current and emerging applications. The Stony Brook Dynamic Phantom is designed to address this urgent need. The proposed project builds upon a 1st generation working prototype of the dynamic phantom (patent pending), to develop engineering improvements in the 2nd generation prototype necessary to increase its durability and reliability in preparation for commercialization. The six objectives addressed in Phase I are associated with increasing precision, accuracy, reliability/reproducibility, and usability from the perspectives of both the phantom's hardware and software.
Errata
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Addenda
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APPLIED LIFESCIENCES & SYSTEMS, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Innovative High Throughput Automated System for Individualized Poultry Vaccination and Recognition and Removal of Unhealthy Chicks
Contact
2804 GLEN BURNIE DR
Raleigh, NC 27607–0300
NSF Award
1647492 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) will be to help enhance disease resistance in poultry and increase yields due to the delivery of only healthy, fully vaccinated chicks to farms. These healthier chicks will reduce the need for antibiotics in poultry, helping in the movement to combat antimicrobial resistance. This technology has immediate applications in other food animal industries and fisheries and allows for data capture on numbers of animals and types of treatments given. Broader applications would include any image capture and analysis that relies on analytics to identify target areas and deliver substances to live animals or humans. In addition, the proposed system will lead to increased productivity, allowing the poultry industry to meet the world's growing nutritional needs. This SBIR Phase I project proposes the development of technologies for screening and vaccinating live animals. This proposal brings innovation to the care of food animals allowing producers to move away from flock health, focusing instead on the care of individual animals. Individualized care is not practiced due to the high throughput needed to keep pace with large-scale commercial hatchery operation. The overarching objective of this proposal is to develop a system that safely and effectively processes 100,000 chicks per hour, preform health checks and target recognition, and delivers a vaccine to individual chicks. This specific SBIR project will focus on two main goals: 1) Development of an automated system to determine the health status of a day-of-age chick. The system will recognize unhealthy chicks and target them for removal. 2) Development of a targeting system to determine the position of a chick using key features and provide the system?s master controller with the coordinates for proper delivery of vaccines and/or biologicals to the correct location on the chick. Achieving these objectives will allow for further development of the product, adding in multiple lines for processing, leading to a fully commercial product.
Errata
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Addenda
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APSE, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Development of Broadly Efficacious Ribonucleic Acid Interference Triggers for Pesticides
Contact
4320 Forest Park Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63108–2979
NSF Award
1647751 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be the expansion of the range of applications of safe, selective, and effective ribonuclic acid interference (RNAi) triggers for use as pesticides. If successful, this biotechnology will contribute to sustainable food production and enhance biodiversity with minimal use of non-selective pesticides associated with human health costs and harmful impacts to non-target flora and fauna. The intended first product resulting from this project will be an insecticide to control fire ants. It is estimated that fire ants cause $7 billion in damages in the U.S. annually. There are number of products on the market that control fire ants, but few that customers are confident are environmentally benign and completely safe to humans and pets. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop and commercialize topical RNAi-based pesticides. Topical RNAi-based pesticides have been demonstrated in the lab to be very selective with respect to the intended target. They also may be readily modified to combat developed pesticide resistance by target pests. However, due to low efficacy at economically attractive application rates, few pests are currently in the RNAi list of commercial targets. This project specifically addresses the challenges related to 1) RNAi efficacy 2) cost of RNAi triggers. The outcomes of the proposed research would enable 1) lower the cost of topical RNAi-based pesticides by at least four-fold, 2) extend the range of the target insects, and 3) target Solenopsis Invicta Buren (Red Imported Fire Ant, RIFA). Once effective RNAi triggers have been identified, the process will be scaled up for the Phase II proposal. During Phase II, reaction conditions will be optimized at pilot scale to demonstrate the technology's value for production of RNAi triggers needed for field tests on RIFA.
Errata
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Addenda
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Abcombi Biosciences, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Treatment technology for recovery of valuable metals from industrial wastewater
Contact
303 Furnas Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260–4200
NSF Award
1647451 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is two-pronged: removal of metal contaminants in wastewater to limit regulatory/environmental costs and recovery of economically valuable metals. Water metal contamination is a ubiquitous problem due to the many industrialized processes that drive our economy. Examples include mining drainage, metal plating, semiconductor fabrication, and solar cell production. These examples straddle well-established and emerging industries but each pose significant environmental impact due to metal contamination potential. Furthermore, the loss of the associated metals carries an economic consequence as un-recovered material represents a significant missed opportunity in raw material utilization. The proposed technology in this Phase I project is poised to address these concerns. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to produce a novel metal binding compound and to scale-up the water-metal removal prototypes based upon this compound. The project will develop a production system for producing a small molecule natural product capable of binding metal compounds with high affinity. This compound will be bound to a solid matrix which enables a heterogeneous means of removing metal content from contaminated water samples. Existing small-scale production and water treatment prototypes will be subjected to cellular and process engineering to scale up for water treatment applications. This scaling step is considered crucial to establishing the viability of the overall technology and approach. Metabolic engineering strategies will be utilized to improve cellular production of the metal binding compound. Process engineering will be applied to scale production of the compound and to assess subsequent packed-bed column operations designed to continuously remove metals from water samples. The team will work closely with a local metal plating company to demonstrate the technology with field wastewater samples. Success will result in a scaled prototype for extended application across industries facing metal contamination/loss.
Errata
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Addenda
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Abricate Inc
SBIR Phase I: Maker Manufactured Platform
Contact
344 Thomas L Berkley Way
Oakland, CA 94612–3577
NSF Award
1647819 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project intends to create a human to machine language tool that allows anything from the simplest shape to the most complex engineering design to be fabricated anywhere that a robotic fabrication machine and the necessary raw materials exist. At a high level many parts are created today customized to a specific users need and a small handful of humans have the knowhow and access to machines to create such customized parts on their own. The complexity of this can be mitigated by creating tools for translation of information from people?s ideas to machine output with much less error and cost. By creating a means to simplify the process of getting from idea to customized fabricated parts, the proposed tool can help achieve balance between creativity and production more easily for Maker Manufacturing. Upon successfully deploying a uniformed solution to the overly complex mesh of fabrication processes used today, hundreds of thousands of new machines can be employed at any end point by interchangeable people to bring to bear goods at any level of precision needed. The end goal is creation of a portal and toolset for fabricators to take and fulfill small batch manufacturing of parts. Success will mean that hundreds to thousands of times more people will be able to create tangible goods from ideas and concept combinations. This is a project to unify CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Machining) across all digital fabrication tools and reduce the complexity of machining designs. While 3D printing may bring an idea of simplicity and access to everyone, laser cutting, CNC (Computer Numeric Controlled or Robotic), injection molding, vacuum forming, and other tools of mass production can likewise also be made more accessible. The project is a software tool embodying a single process for which any design can start at one end and any machine be placed at the other end. At least in showing how much of the same end result, if any, each machine is capable of producing of the intended output. This project will produce a part plus material algorithm by which any part that can be fabricated can be proposed to the algorithm and all of the machines capable of producing them can be identified. From there the scale - both in size of part and number - of copies of the part can be added in and thus sort the machines by best part quality, price, and overall speed of production at any volume. The goal of the research is to capture all existing manufacturing practices in machine shops and Maker places, and assure that none of today?s capabilities are lost while creating a living algorithm that allows for future capabilities to be added to any fabrication process.
Errata
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Addenda
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Acoustic Biosystems, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Acoustic Size Fractionation of Chromatography Column Particles
Contact
3900 Paseo sel Sol
Santa Fe, NM 87507–4072
NSF Award
1622149 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,886
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 01/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is the creation of technology that uses sound waves to separate small particles by size with a level of effectiveness that far surpasses what is currently available commercially. Such particle size control is important for enhancing the efficiency of separation techniques such as chromatography. Chromatography is broadly used in science and manufacturing to separate components in a mixture. The technology could have applicability in a broad array of uses both industrial, pharmaceutical and biomedical. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are the development of a novel high-flow, two-stage acoustic fractionation technology. Acoustic concentration in a flow stream using pressure to force cells and particles across a flow has been well established. Current systems generate sufficient acoustic force to concentrate biological cells and small particles by establishing an ultrasonic standing wave between transmitters and reflectors that are tens to hundreds of microns apart. These dimensions of a small channel in the systems limit the sample flow rate to hundreds of microliters per minute. The proposed R&D will employ novel proprietary technology developed by Acoustic Biosystems for producing a single planar acoustic node in a wide rectangular channel. The rectangular flow cross section supports high sample flow rates through the resonant acoustic waves. The envisioned acoustic fractionation technology will use two precisely aligned acoustic pressure nodes within a fluid laminar flow profile. The first acoustic zone will align all the particles in the solution and the second zone will spread the particles across the flow by size. Collection of slices of the laminar flow will yield narrow size fractions of the particles
Errata
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Addenda
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Activated Research Company
SBIR Phase I: A universal carbon detector for liquid phase chemical detection of organic molecules
Contact
7561 Corporate Way
Eden Prairie, MN 55344–2022
NSF Award
1721397 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,995
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will research and develop a universal carbon detector for liquid chromatography using flame ionization detection. The commercialization of this innovation is a product that will allow scientists to measure compounds with greater ease and accuracy, and drastically simplify the number and types of detectors required in liquid chromatography. The broader impacts of this product include faster drug and product development, more accurate purity analysis, better environmental sampling and more efficient research in many market sectors where liquid chromatography is used. The proposed activity will result in a product that competes in the $500M UV detector market, offering universal carbon detection without the need for a chromophore and linear detector response. The intellectual merit of this project is the development of a low-cost, universal detector that is capable of responding to nearly all organic molecules with high sensitivity and linearity. Previous attempts to utilize the flame ionization detector have failed because of the lack of technologies necessary for the complete vaporization of analytes and removal of organic solvents. We have identified an oxidation-reduction microreactor that converts all organic molecules to methane vapors. We anticipate the proposed detector will have a sensitivity on-par with flame ionization detectors in gas chromatography. The technology would bring unparalleled molecular quantification to a wide variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, biofuels, environmental testing, chemicals and foods.
Errata
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Addenda
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Adnoviv LLC
STTR Phase I: Occupancy Estimation and Energy Savings with True Presence Sensors
Contact
2800 Woodlawn Drive
Honolulu, HI 96822–1862
NSF Award
1648945 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will extend to a number of applications, including smart buildings, home automation, and security. The development of this new technology for efficient indoor sensing, and development of new algorithms for occupancy sensing and counting techniques, will have immediate implications in the building automation and home construction industries, where improved occupancy sensing is necessary to achieve the promise of Smart Buildings that adjust environmental conditions such as lighting and air conditions automatically to suit the needs of the occupants. Implementing this false-alarm free technology will realize millions of dollars cost saving from reduced energy use. Such energy savings would impact the US energy independence while helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions, making positive contribution to the planet?s climate and environment. In addition to "smart building"/energy efficiency applications there are also significant opportunities to apply these highly-reliable and difficult-to-defeat sensors to facility security, military, law enforcement/correctional facilities and in-home care monitoring. This projects represents Broadening Participation: As a woman-owned minority business in the underrepresented geographical location (Hawaii), the success of Adnoviv will bring opportunity for graduate students through our relationship with the University of Hawaii and encourage young girls to enter Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related fields. This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project will result in a revolutionary advance in occupancy sensing for smart buildings and energy-use reduction by providing a low-cost sensor capable of real human presence detection and occupant count, and eliminating the issues that have limited the utility of occupancy sensors in many applications. The feasibility of using radio frequency Doppler radar to detect human cardiopulmonary activity and estimate number of occupants using a low power system-on-chip (SoC) platform will be demonstrated. In particular reliable occupant detection without false alarms, and occupant count estimation will be investigated to further enhance energy savings potential, especially in conjunction with heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) loads. The significant commercial potential of such True Presence Occupancy Detection Sensors (TruePODS) in energy-saving applications will be demonstrated in partnership with one of the largest building automation companies in the world.
Errata
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Addenda
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Advaita Corporation
SBIR Phase I: A multi-omics data integration approach for precision medicine and improved clinical trial success
Contact
46099 Five mile Road
Plymouth, MI 48170–2424
NSF Award
1721898 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project will be to develop an analysis software package to significantly reduce health care costs while simultaneously improving patient care by helping select the correct treatment for each patient. Every year an estimated of 1.4 million women undergo unnecessary treatments at a cost to society of $32.2 billion for breast cancer. At the same time, some patients do not receive the treatment they need. For instance, chemotherapy is not routinely recommended after surgical tumor removal for patients with early stage lung cancer, even though the disease will recur in a large number of them. The ability to correctly identify disease subtypes and patient subgroups is a pre-condition to the ability to distinguish between patients that need the most aggressive treatments, and those who will never progress or recur. Further, the proposed approach can improve the results of clinical trials. With an estimated 2,300 Phase III clinical trials per year in the US, a full 50% of them are destined for failure with a loss of $1 billion/year. This can be avoided if the correct inclusion criteria are defined, and the drug is administered only to the people most likely to respond. This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop a novel software package able to identify subtypes of disease based on the integration of multiple types of omics data. Many drug candidates fail and many patients receive inappropriate treatment because of the current inability to distinguish between subgroups of patients and/or subtypes of disease. Many attempts to achieve this based solely on gene expression signatures have been undertaken but yielded only modest success so far. In addition, very few approaches are able to combine multiple data types and most of the time the analysis of each data type leads to different subgroups that are very hard to interpret. The technology proposed here will be able to discover clinically relevant disease subtypes by integrating multiple types of high-throughput data such as mRNAs, miRNAs, methylation, etc. The goal of this project is to implement this technology as a software package that will facilitate its application in large scale consistent with real-world use. In addition, the plan is to assess the feasibility of this technology by performing an extensive comparison with the top three existing approaches: Consensus clustering, similarity network fusion, and iClusterPlus using over 1,800 real patient data from 12 different studies.
Errata
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Advanced Biological Marketing, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: A NOVEL BIORATIONAL, VERSATILE PRODUCT TO ENHANCE CROP YIELDS AND RESISTANCE TO STRESSES
Contact
7734 Boroff Rd.
Van Wert, OH 45891–1870
NSF Award
1720656 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to provide a new class of biorational chemicals (based on chemical communicants from plant symbiotic fungi) that provide season-long improvements in plant productivity including enhanced root growth, resistance to a variety of stresses including drought, and increases in plant yield. This system will be developed for delivery as a seed treatment or as an augmented fertilizer. The novel products will be sold to famers through already-developed delivery systems primarily through agricultural distributors and seed companies. They are expected to increase plant root development, crop yields and tolerance/resistance to drought and other adverse conditions. The products can be used equally well by large and sophisticated farmers and seed companies, including those using advanced plant genetic traits, but is also adaptable to smaller growers since the input costs to users will be less than competitive technologies for especially coping with adverse environmental stresses. These tools and advances will assist is overcoming the adverse effects of climate change and provide technologies to maximize scarce water resources. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to formulate the active chemicals to provide user-friendly products for delivery in suitable agricultural systems including seed treatments and augmented fertilizers, and to evaluate prototype products on their advantages in the greenhouse, pilot scale and field trial systems. The field trials will be conducted under conditions of drought stress and will permit measurement of water use efficiency of conventional and advanced drought tolerant corn hybrids in the presence and absence of the new products, and will provide a means to determine the mechanism by which the active chemicals provide improvements in plant performance. This third goal is essential since the chemicals as applied are present only during seed germination, but enhance plant performance throughout the season. The formulations are based on novel systems that will sequester volatile active chemicals but release them only when seeds are germinating. The plant performance characteristics that will be measured include enhanced root development throughout the season, enhanced yield parameters under water limiting conditions, and measure water use efficiency.
Errata
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Addenda
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Advanced Silicon Group
STTR Phase I: Silicon nanowire arrays for the sensitive detection and identification of lung cancer by a blood sample
Contact
173 Bedford Road
Lincoln, MA 01773–1512
NSF Award
1648764 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is the possibility to revolutionize the treatment of cancer through more sensitive and specific cancer biomarker detection. 1.66 million Americans were diagnosed with cancer in 2014 alone, of which 585,720 died. The sum of all health care costs in 2011 for cancer in the US was $88.7 billion. A low cost, less invasive, and more sensitive detector will allow earlier detection of cancer and thus lower the cost of treatment and increase survival rates. Higher sensitivity cancer detection will lead to early detection, enable targeted treatment, and save money and lives while improving quality of life. In addition, the knowledge learned from this grant can be applied to other sensors in which the nanowires are functionalized for detection of materials. These sensors could include sensors to support the Internet of Things, pollution monitoring, and ensuring high water quality. The proposed project will advance our knowledge of using nanowires as detectors. Nanowire sensors have a high surface area-to-volume ratio. Thus their detection limit is dramatically lowered and their sensitivity is increased relative to non-nanostructured sensors. This improvement is necessary for many biological assays. Others have made nanowire sensors and demonstrated high sensitivity. However, the fabrication techniques they use to make their sensors are expensive and slow. Thus, they are only able to get 1-10 nanowires per sensor and manufacturing throughput is low. This project will use a high-throughput and low-cost process, and that results in millions of nanowires per sensor. The nanowires will increase the surface area by over a thousand times thus allowing for more sensitive detection. Instead of using horizontal wires like the competition, the proposed sensor uses arrays of vertically aligned nanowires. The device design solves the typical challenges of contacting large arrays of nanowires and enables the measurement of both optical and electrical signals simultaneously. The proposed project will measure a commercially relevant biomarker for lung cancer. In addition, the investigators will detect two biomarkers on the same chip, thus demonstrating how the technology can be used to test multiple biomarkers on the same chip.
Errata
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Aerosol Devices Inc.
STTR Phase I: New devices for the rapid and accurate characterization of airborne microbes
Contact
430 N. College Ave, Ste 430
Fort Collins, CO 80524–2675
NSF Award
1721940 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader reaching impacts/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research project stems from the development and application of a new generation of cost-effective devices that can efficiently recover, preserve and quantify airborne microbes in near real time. An improved ability to characterize the microbiology of indoor aerosols has a multitude of important engineering and public health benefits for urban society. This includes a vastly improved ability to monitor bioaerosols in health care settings; in water-damaged buildings; in plane/rail/bus transportation centers; as well as other high-density public venues. Through this work, emerging aerosol technology will be optimized and deployed in portable instrumentation that reports what currently marketed aerosol monitoring equipment cannot provide: the identity, distribution and abundance of airborne microorganisms indoors. This approach provides an unprecedented path to compile large exposure databases, which enable the scientific and medical community to better understand the potential effects of indoor microbial air pollution. Compared to conventional aerosol sampling, these new filter-less devices require little human oversite, communicate aerosol data to cloud-based servers, and preserve bioaerosol samples with exceptional fidelity. These next generation instruments provide an innovative, unobtrusive and practical method for surveying the indoor air we breathe every day, in near real-time. This STTR Phase I project integrates portable lasers for real-time microbe enumeration, with humidity controls that efficiently recover bacteria, fungi and pollen from indoor air. This advanced equipment assembly accurately counts, preserves and concentrates airborne microbes for stringent biochemical analysis that is relevant to public health. The opportunity for this new instrumentation leverages the fundamental technological advantages it has over conventional sampling equipment, which until now predominantly relies on filtering large quantities of indoor air. The mechanical stresses microbes must endure during conventional air filtration, seriously compromises the accuracy of airborne microbial analyses. The research objective of this work is to challenge this novel instrumentation array with known quantities of airborne microbes that commonly inhabit the indoor environment. Using widely accepted engineering and biochemistry methods, the overarching goal is to systematically validate the efficiency of this new equipment, both in the laboratory and in the field. We anticipate markedly better quantitative recovery of airborne microbial activity and genetic material (DNA) where directly compared to its filter-based counterparts. Thus, the commercial and societal value of this new instrumentation is realized through displacing outmoded aerosol collection methods with highly efficient filter-less air sampling devices, outfitted with modern optics and digital automation.
Errata
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Aira Tech Corp
SBIR Phase I: Development of a Natural Language Dialogue System for the Blind and Visually Impaired to Enable Greater Efficiency in Remote Assistance
Contact
4225 Executive Square #460
La Jolla, CA 92037–8411
NSF Award
1722399 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 03/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to dramatically increase the quality of life and economic independence for the nearly 22 million blind or visually impaired people in the US. The economic benefits include a significant reduction in the nearly $100B in annual economic losses from lower productivity due to visual impairment and in annual cost of social services to the blind or visually impaired. This project will create low-cost, high-value tools and services that will give blind and visually impaired people the same level of environmental awareness as fully sighted people. At scale, this technology will result in the direct employment of more than 20,000 people to support the service, while also providing millions blind/visually impaired people with the tools and opportunity to join the work force. The proposed project will develop a real-time, life-enhancing service to the blind enabled by a mix of machine learning and a remote human assistant to create a real-time, semi-virtual, personal assistant with the quality of an in-person, trained human assistant. In the proposed project, the core innovation is a high-level machine intelligence tool created by integration of state-of-the-art Natural Language Understanding (NLU) software and Image Recognition and Analysis (IA) software with novel inter-agent routing and state-of-the-art Graceful Degradation, or seamless error handling and resolution by either software or human agents. Despite the incredible advancements in NLU and IA agents, integration of multiple different software agents into a single, context-specific application remains a difficult and risky development effort worthy of funding by the NSF. By doing this, we will (1) enhance the user experience with richer environmental feedback, (2) enhance the productivity of our human agents, allowing individual human agents to serve many more users and thereby create scalability that will make the service both self-sustaining and affordable, and finally (3) increase the user?s experience of personal independence through interaction with machine-based tools rather than emotionally and socially charged interactions with human agents.
Errata
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Addenda
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Akabotics LLC
SBIR Phase I: Novel Suction Tip for Marine Life Avoidance During Robotic Sediment Removal
Contact
73-4460 Queen Kaahumanu Hwy,#101
Kailua Kona, HI 96740–2637
NSF Award
1722472 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be achieved through shifting the paradigm of waterway maintenance into a more regular occurrence, giving way to reduced pollutant levels in waterways, since they will be promptly removed instead of allowing them to accumulate toxins, and increase property values, utilization, and income within the marina industry. Additionally, embedded sensor intelligence and continuous waterway monitoring will grant the community and dredging regulatory agencies increased visibility and understanding of the health of the marine life in the waterway and allow them to more closely monitor environmental violations. With widespread adoption and further development, the innovation could potentially have far-reaching benefits in assisting with water and energy security by keeping inlet canals and reservoirs that comprise our society?s infrastructure clean and running at peak efficiency. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will aim to design, develop, and test an intelligent suction tip for use in year-round sediment removal in waterways. Current sediment removal technologies are destructive to marine ecosystems and costly to employ. As such, this project aims to develop an intelligent suction tip for marine life avoidance during robotic sediment removal in waterways. The project activities include the design and rapid prototyping of a suction tip filter that prevents fish entrainment, design and implementation of water quality sensors for environmental niche modeling, in-house saltwater testing, and marine representative freshwater testing.
Errata
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Akai Kaeru, LLC
SBIR Phase I: The Data Context Map
Contact
525 E 82nd Str. #7B
New York, NY 10028–7157
NSF Award
1721664 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/15/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is that it makes high-dimensional data visualization more accessible to mainstream users. An interactive multivariate visualization framework will assist users in the understanding of complex phenomena and help with decision making in the presence of multiple factors. It uses a map-like layout of factors and data that naturally appeals to a mainstream user's innate visual literacy, making it easy to learn and use. Through a variety of interaction facilities, users can define areas in this layout that indicate parameter values of their interest. This then enables them to make informed decisions within a single visual interface and balance among the diverse impacts the various factors have on the decisions. Given the massive growth in the availability of multivariate data, the unique capabilities that the proposed framework provides are expected to have a strong impact on society, in many application domains and at many different levels - personal, business, finance, scientific, medicine, and so on. In short, this project will have a significant societal impact by allowing users to make better decisions in less time. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project makes several intellectual and scientific contributions. A core contribution is the ability to embed high dimensional points and factors into a 2D plane or map, such that the distance between points has contextual meaning. This allows a single visualization to convey what currently takes a dashboard of several bivariate plots to show. The inherent mechanisms that create the combined map-like layout of data and factors are novel and open new opportunities to understand multivariate data. The same is true for the interactions defined on the layout, in particular those that allow users to derive the areas of influence of the various factors. Another intellectual contribution is the interface that allows users to focus their attention on specific attributes and deals with the mental and cognitive overload that may arise in users in the presence of too many factors and attributes. The proposed system constructs a meaningful hierarchical representation of the attributes that can be navigated within a novel space efficient visual interface. Using our design tools, anyone with an internet connection and a modern web browser will be able to create these layouts from multivariate data.
Errata
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Albeado, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Predicting Healthcare Fraud, Waste and Abuse by Automatically Discovering Social Networks in Health Insurance Claims Data through Machine Learning
Contact
5201 Great America Parkway
Santa Clara, CA 95054–1157
NSF Award
1648542 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,516
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will pave the way for new types of social network analysis to detect anomalies, which could lead to more accurate and faster identification of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA), key opinion leaders (i.e., influentials), and market segments. Medicare and other healthcare providers lose hundreds of millions of dollars to FWA. This research proposes using a novel way to discover and combine relationships between entities (e.g., doctors) with information about the entities (e.g., prescription history) using machine learning. The goal is to reduce a claims investigator's workload while maintaining high accuracy in detecting FWA. In short, the results of this research will not only improve FWA detection efficiency, but enable detecting new types of FWA. Societal impact includes reduced costs to the taxpayer for government supported programs such as Medicare through better FWA detection. More broadly, the system could be used to find terrorist and crime networks, detect possible opioid or substance abuse epidemic cohorts, under-medication, over-medication, and even incorrect medications. The proposed project will apply a novel machine learning method to solve the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA) problem in health insurance. The technical problem is how to combine relations between entities such as doctors with information about doctors (e.g., a doctor's prescription history). This project advances the state of the art by developing a new way to automatically discover those relations and then combining those relations with the information about doctors through machine learning, thus vastly improving prediction accuracy. The method uses relation information to fill in the gaps of entity information alone and vice versa. It is believed that this method will hugely improve the ability to detect FWA. The goal is to achieve a 50% true positive rate in a database of fraud-convicted doctors published monthly by the government. The scope of the project involves analyzing several different types of health insurance claims formats (e.g., Medicare) and producing a fraud score, which then others can use. The anticipated results include a fraud score for most doctors in the U.S. (at least those who deal with Medicare), APIs to these scores, and an interactive visual system that claims investigators can use to reduce their workload while accurately identifying FWA.
Errata
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AlchLight
STTR Phase I: Development of super-efficiency thermoelectric generators and waste heat management with black metal and super-wicking surfaces
Contact
10-3 Selden Street
Rochester, NY 14605–0000
NSF Award
1722169 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will help establish a commercially viable method for mass production of high-efficiency heat exchangers for the rapid advancement of thermoelectric solar cells and waste heat management. The advancement to be made in this project will help harvest an enormous amount of solar energy and heat energy from the environment. Thermal energy from natural (solar, geothermal etc.) as well as from man-made thermal sources is a continuously available, and currently underutilized resource with the potential to become an important pillar of renewable energy. The solar thermoelectric devices require minimal maintenance and are suitable for deployment in remote regions. The successful completion of this project will significantly improve the performance of solar thermoelectric generators. Besides harnessing solar energy, thermoelectric devices can also be used for waste heat recovery from automobile exhaust and industries using high-temperature furnaces to enhance fuel efficiency and generate electricity for automotive operations. Our estimated outcome can enhance the fuel efficiency of automobile engines by 15-20 %with around $67 billion annual reductions in gasoline expenses and around 570 billion pound reduction in annual carbon emission. The intellectual merit of this project is to develop a disruptive technology to improve the efficiency of thermoelectric devices. Currently, the efficiency of thermoelectric devices is much lower than their theoretical values due to the lack of ideal heat exchanger materials for both hot and cold ends. The research goal is to enhance current module efficiency by more than 90%. The project includes testing and validation of the heat exchanger into thermoelectric generation modules for solar electricity generation and waste heat management from thermal sources at different temperatures, as well as developing methods for mass production of heat exchanger materials. The size of the treated surfaces can be well controlled, making it possible to fabricate microscale solar thermal devices for infrared sensors and night vision cameras.
Errata
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Alcorix Co.
SBIR Phase I: X-Ray Focusing Device for 20-100 keV Photon Energies
Contact
14047 Franklin Ct.
Plainfield, IL 60544–6098
NSF Award
1648219 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,938
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project targets the fabrication of X-ray focusing devices for high photon energies in the range from 10 keV to >100 keV, necessary for imaging, microtomography, and elemental and structural analyses of materials in spectral ranges and at resolutions unavailable today. Their primary use is in high-end synchrotron radiation facilities and in X-ray microscopes with X-ray tubes sources in specialized industrial and research environments. They form a special class of high-value consumables, with a functional life time of ~2.5 years, with capabilities to address the global market segment worth about $1M today for low and average performance diffractive focusing devices, to more than $4M, if the unprecedented performance devices will be developed. Availability of such focusing devices will enhance the scientific understanding of structure of matter at the nano-scale and the interplay of structure and functionality for applications ranging from drugs development to materials science, nano-electronics, biosciences, forensics, battery and energy research, investigating terrestrial soils or cosmic dust, the kinetics of ultra-fast chemical reactions, advanced catalysts, and others. The intellectual merit of this project is twofold. First, the innovative method of fabrication is a combination of top-down and bottom-up processing. It includes the atomic layer deposition onto batch-fabricated cylindrical silicon precursors of sequences of low and high absorption and refractive index materials, with well-controlled layer thicknesses varying from few nm to micrometers according to the Fresnel zone rules, followed by polishing the wafer to form membranes with focusing devices embedded into them. Hundreds of zone plates can be produced on one wafer, minimizing the processing costs per device. Second, the method is extendable towards depositing sequences of more-than-two material layers, which enables the fabrication of step-wise graded index kinoforms ? devices with single foci and of ultimate diffraction efficiency. Phase I will address these issues by effectively assessing the capabilities for individual key processes and will prove the fabrication feasibility, while Phase II will deal with the fabrication and testing of prototypes with long runs of atomic layer deposition processes, as necessary for functional devices.
Errata
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Alef Omega, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: A mathematics communication and collaboration system
Contact
2060 Broadway St, Suite B-1
Boulder, CO 80302–5224
NSF Award
1721340 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/15/2017 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This project researches and develops a novel mathematics communication and collaboration system. Mathematics is the foundation of Science and Technology, and national competence in the STEM fields is essential to maintaining our competitive edge on a global scale. Math literacy hinges on effective communication of mathematical concepts and processes. However, despite significant advances in pedagogical methods, the way we communicate mathematics remains curiously behind the times. Preliminary customer and market research has revealed that the lack of adequate communication tools for mathematical and technical expressions is holding back the advance of mathematics in online environments such as online tutoring. Moreover, the scarcity of effective communication tools has reinforced the long-standing preconception that math is primarily a solitary activity, and it has created an unintended and harmful selection bias restricting the diversity of students entering STEM fields. This project fills the void of adequate math communications tools with an dynamic, interactive system for communicating mathematical derivations in real-time in an online environment. The system facilitates student-student and student-teacher remote communication of mathematics, and it is particularly suited for student-tutor communication on online tutoring platforms. The math communication and collaboration system this project develops leverages the company's proprietary equation manipulation technology. This system employs an integrated math engine and a touch-based interface allowing users to manipulate equations using simple drag-and-drop gestures. It is built on a game-engine allowing for multi-player support. This project integrates the equation manipulation technology into a networked multi-user interface to connect one or more users for real-time communication of mathematical derivations. The project researches the precise needs of students, teachers, and online tutors to tailor the user interface to the specific needs of online mathematics communication. Specific problems the project researches include multi-player networking and matchmaking functionality, optimal network architecture for the system, transfer of control between users for effective communication, integration of traditional communication tools within the system, and reduction of latency time to enhance real-time interactivity. Successful completion of the project will result in a first-of-its-kind math communication system that allows users in different places to connect online and communicate a mathematical derivation as it is happening, and as easily as if they were in the same room. The primary project deliverable is a minimum viable product to be piloted and vetted through the company?s existing math app.
Errata
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Ambercycle, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: High-Purity Extraction of PET from Carpet Waste
Contact
245 W 2nd Street
Mesa, AZ 85201–6503
NSF Award
1721434 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will enable the recycling of valuable materials from complex wastes that today cannot be recovered. The commercial impact from this innovation is to allow for complex waste streams that contain multiple materials, such as carpets and textiles, to serve as the source of raw materials for the manufacture of new goods in a way that is cost advantaged. This gives those businesses that use such raw materials a sustainable alternative and, a lower-cost, efficiently produced material. In this way, there will be significant incentive for the reuse of thousands of tons of material that today either goes to landfills, oceans, or is incinerated for energy- a very low value application. The project will yield an entirely new framework for recycling of complex, multi-component materials. This project will develop novel technologies for fractionating complex wastes. Multi-component wastes such as carpets and textiles represent upwards of 4% of total landfill volume. Today, there does not exist technology for recovering the high-value materials that are in these wastes. The proposed project intends to develop a new approach using chemical techniques as opposed to simple melt recycling, to enable the value-added recycling of high value polymers from such wastes. Chemical process development will take place in order to take the current status of the technology to a status that is ready for implementation in a pilot plant. The main technical objective is to develop the process for production of consistent, high purity product. Materials such as polyester and nylon currently cannot be separated from natural or cellulosic fibers such as cotton or even heavily cross-linked rubbers as those that are found in carpet. The goals of the research are to develop the proposers' current process for fractionating the nylons and polyesters with an emphasis on achieving high purity products for reuse. To this end, various solution processing techniques will be investigated for exclusion of impurities from end product polymer.
Errata
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Analytic Measures Incorporated
SBIR Phase I: Virtual Interview Trait Estimation Combining Speech and Touch
Contact
1330 TASSO ST
Palo Alto, CA 94301–3635
NSF Award
1622239 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in improved efficiency in labor markets by enabling faster, more accurate assessments of the interpersonal traits ("soft skills") of job candidates, employees, and students. The project develops methods for accurate automated screening interviews that can save time, effort, and money for both employers and job seekers - delivering a more efficient candidate selection process for U.S. companies and public agencies that conduct hundreds of millions of screening interviews with job candidates each year. This project is focused on performance assessments of attitude, energy and social communication, specifically as these qualities are needed for selection of people for cooperative roles in employment settings. The project's applied research will refine (and may reconceive) the behavioral definitions of traits that are valued in employee selection because they are held to be predictive of success in work settings and in occupational training. Resultant refined measurement tools may enable advances in applied fields like industrial psychology and provide more precise variables for use in basic studies of the neurological correlates of emotion, social perception, personality, and mental disorders. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project designs, develops and fields a prototype app that conducts an automated Virtual Screening Interview (VSI). The VSI app is an experimental instrument that probes job-relevant traits in speech and touch responses. In recent decades, algorithms have estimated people's affect, sentiment, and emotions as observed in facial expression, text content, tone of voice, speech rate, gestures, posture and other body language. Among these, speech prosody, linguistic content, and facial expression have proven to be strong indicators of emotional valence (attitude) and psychomotor activation (energy level). VSI system research will identify measurable traits that support rapid learning and successful performance in activities and occupations that require teamwork or social skill. The VSI app collects performance data (voice and screen-touch tracks) on mobile devices to investigate novel combinations of features from speech and motion that accelerate and improve trait measurement. The project will generate new knowledge about how the relationships between speech and movement can match expert evaluations of people in work groups and in social settings. Measurement technologies developed in the project may also be applied in education and industry to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of instruction and training.
Errata
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Anticipant Speech, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: A Platform for Commercial Dialogue Systems with Fluid Turn-Taking Skills
Contact
4199 Campus Dr STE 550 PMB 134
Irvine, CA 92612–4694
NSF Award
1648502 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is that it will make progress toward the societal need to increase the efficiency and flexibility with which people can talk to computers, and reduce the frustration that many people feel in trying to get things done with current speech-enabled systems. Commercial applications of speech-enabled systems are increasing very rapidly, including systems that act as virtual assistants, automate customer service functions, and generally enable people to get things done with their voices in their homes, cars, and throughout daily life. As these applications expand throughout society, we will inevitably find ourselves speaking to automated systems more and more often. The company's innovative platform is designed to enable people to communicate more naturally and efficiently in these interactions. This project will develop ways to improve how people can communicate as they interact with speech-based applications developed by a variety of businesses and organizations. The project will enhance understanding of how advanced research innovations in dialogue systems technology can be brought into the commercial arena and contribute to the technical development of an innovative new dialogue platform. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project advances the development and commercialization of language processing and dialogue system technologies that increase the efficiency and naturalness of speaking to an automated system while reducing user frustration. The project addresses technical hurdles in the standardization of software architecture, generalization of language processing models, and methods for authoring and controlling the content of automated conversations. The objective for Phase I is to demonstrate the overall technical feasibility of the proposed conversational platform. The project plan includes data collection, technical development, and evaluation steps to achieve this objective. An anticipated outcome is an improved understanding of the most promising technical avenues to enable more natural conversational skills in commercial dialogue systems.
Errata
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Apollo Medical Devices, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Optical Platform for Point-of-Care Analysis With a Single Drop of Blood
Contact
11000 Cedar Ave
Cleveland, OH 44106–3067
NSF Award
1648213 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,977
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will develop a point-of-care (POC) blood chemistry test that can measure multiple analytes simultaneously with a single drop of blood. Blood chemistry tests are the most frequently ordered tests by physicians. This proposed lab-on-a-chip and associated analyzer for blood chemistry tests will benefit society by improving the quality of health care delivery and reducing costs. This device?s minimally invasive procedure reduces: fear and discomfort caused by needles, level of skill needed for sample collection, and errors associated with pre-analytical testing steps. The device?s patent-protected optode technology, which utilizes the color spectrum to measure concentrations, differentiates it from electrochemical technology, which is used by competing POC devices. Briefly, optode technology has lower manufacturing complexity, requires much less blood, has a more robust output, and can test more analytes simultaneously. The initial target application will be neonatal blood chemistry testing because of a strong need to minimize blood draw volumes. Upon clinical acceptance of the technology in the neonatal market, the simple-to-use platform will be expanded to other applications, including acute care centers, first responders, primary care, military care, and disaster relief organizations. This platform will also be expanded to test many other analytes, and should help create many new U.S. jobs in the process. The proposed optode-based lab-on-a-chip device will be capable of testing various analytes simultaneously with a single drop of blood, which has not been achieved by commercial POC devices. This innovative optode technology has several advantages over electrochemical technology. First, the optode technology enables extremely small sample volume requirements compared to electrochemical sensors (6-10 ìL vs. 65-100 ìL) and eliminates the need for mixing of reagents. Second, fabrication complexity is greatly simplified using optodes because it requires less layers, less raw materials, and simpler manufacturing steps. Third, optode technology provides a more robust output by using a combination of multiple wavelengths on the visual light spectrum and not a single current output as used in electrochemical technology. Finally, this platform technology will result in unique multiplex analyte combinations, including the first ever handheld basic metabolic panel (BMP) test that requires just a single drop of blood. The primary goal of this Phase I SBIR is to demonstrate feasibility of this micro-dispensed, lab-on-a-chip system to evaluate clinical samples. In this one-year project, Objective 1 will develop automated sensor manufacturing methods. Objective 2 will confirm the performance of the developed lab-on-a-chip to quantify analytes in sera samples in FDA-required non-clinical tests and when compared to an FDA-approved, POC analyzer.
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Applied Biosensors, LLC
SBIR Phase I: In-line sensor for monitoring monoclonal antibody production based on hydrogels containing peptide aptamers
Contact
2500 S State St
Salt Lake City, UT 84115–3110
NSF Award
1648079 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,979
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will benefit society by reducing the cost of manufacturing biologic pharmaceuticals and improving their quality, including pharmaceuticals that are currently too costly to manufacture because they target relatively small patient populations. The proposed innovation will advance state-of-the-art by providing a continuous in-situ multi-analyte sensor enabling novel methods of drug quality assurance. This multi-analyte sensor will allow biopharmaceutical companies, for the first time, to monitor the concentration of the product in-situ as it is being produced along with the concentrations of other important culture analytes. The sensor array will have the unique ability to measure time dependent correlations between pH, osmolality, and concentrations of glucose, lactate and monoclonal antibodies. This ability unlocks new avenues for optimizing upstream biopharmaceutical production which consumes about 35% of biologic drug cost of goods. Efficient control of upstream processes using sensors such as the one proposed is expected to reduce these costs up to 30%. Furthermore, this technology can be directed towards other analytes by replacing the sensing molecules. Thus, the proposed technology can be used as a sensing platform in biopharmaceutical manufacturing or in medical diagnostics, food processing, and water quality. This project will demonstrate the feasibility of adapting newly discovered affinity ligands for bioprocess sensing; thereby obtaining the first in-situ biosensor that can be used to monitor the concentration of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) during manufacturing in real time. This biosensor will be based on a novel magnetically transduced stimuli-responsive hydrogel containing affinity ligands that target mAbs. This antibody sensor will be integrated into an existing in-situ bioreactor sensor array capable of monitoring other key parameters: pH, osmolality, glucose, and lactate. Thus, the proposed sensor array will be a powerful tool to advance process analytics and biomanufacturing. Product feasibility will be demonstrated via three objectives: 1) Synthesize a novel magnetically transduced stimuli-responsive hydrogel containing affinity ligands that specifically bind to mAbs. 2) Incorporate the hydrogel of objective 1 into a sensor suitable for monitoring the concentration of mAbs in cell culture media in the concentration range relevant to biomanufacturing. 3) Integrate the antibody sensor into an existing sensor array and demonstrate its performance under typical antibody manufacturing conditions. This adaptable technology can be leveraged towards a number of protein targets; thus the proposed project represents a transformative approach that will advance scientific knowledge of biosensing across a multitude of applications.
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Applied Environmental Technology
SBIR Phase I: Novel Process Technology for Point-of-Generation Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater
Contact
10809 Cedar Cove Drive
Tampa, FL 33592–2250
NSF Award
1621647 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to address the grand challenge of human-induced nitrogen loading to the environment. An easy-to-use and affordable system will target a major source of nitrogen releases to watersheds: the on-site systems that treat wastewater from millions of households and commercial facilities across the U.S. The need to mitigate harmful algal blooms and prevent other damaging cumulative effects to aquatic ecosystems have created an urgent demand for onsite technologies that remove nitrogen at its source. The proposed nitrogen removal technology is modular and adaptable for use in small-scale systems that treat wastewater from individual homes, community systems and commercial establishments. The project employs an innovative biological nitrogen removal process that that will be verified and optimized for high priority applications in rural, peri-urban, and urban settings. The system is mechanically simple, generates no waste products, and operates passively with minimal maintenance, energy or consumables. The results from this project will help to solve the critical challenge of nitrogen control by providing a highly efficient, low-cost, commercializable system that is practicable for on-site wastewater treatment in new and retrofit systems. The technical objectives of this Phase I research project are to design, construct, field-test, and critically evaluate variant prototypes of an innovative bioreactor system to remove nitrogen from onsite wastewater. Prototype bioreactors will be operated and monitored over multiple months to investigate their salient operational characteristics and define effective design and treatment regimes. The bioreactors will be installed to treat real household wastewater under field conditions. Nitrogen analytes will be monitored across the bioreactor systems to delineate the effects of biotreatment on four nitrogen species: organic nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate and nitrite. The effects of the biotreatment system on chemical and biochemical oxygen demand, inorganic chemical parameters, and other wastewater constituents of interest will also be elucidated. The project will critically evaluate the effectiveness of total nitrogen removal and the stability and resiliency of individual nitrogen removal transformations. The work will confirm the longevity and robustness of the nitrogen removal process and identify design and operating parameters that optimize an innovative approach to remove total nitrogen from on-site wastewater while mitigating nitrogen releases to the environment. Prototype design and monitoring will facilitate scale-up of results to full-scale biotreatment systems.
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Apri Health
SBIR Phase I: Hyper-Personalized Clinical Evidence-based Blood Transfusion Decision Support Tool to Drive Value-Based Care
Contact
221 First Ave SW
Rochester, MN 55902–3125
NSF Award
1648233 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,414
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a hyper-personalized, clinical, and evidence-based blood transfusion decision support tool to reduce unnecessary transfusions, transfusion-related complications, and transfusion related expenditures. Blood transfusions are the most commonly prescribed medical procedure in the US, and cost our healthcare system $30 billion annually. The cost of unnecessary transfusions is estimated at no less than $15 billion each year. These figures double when including the cost of treating transfusion-related complications. In the era of evidence-based medicine, transfusion practices remain highly subjective with significant clinical variation. The proposed project aims to address a critical un-met need in the hospitals related to blood transfusion by developing a comprehensive clinical evidence-driven decision support system that would empower the physician with a near real-time laboratory, clinical, diagnostic and prognostic information, integrated within a usable interface. The long-term goal of the project is to minimize the incidence of unnecessary blood transfusions to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare expenditures. The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive patient blood-management suite of tools that can be implemented across all clinical fields and can be easily deployed in most any hospital. The following specific aims will be pursued: a) To develop and implement scalable HIPAA-compliant methodologies for the extraction, storage, and management of blood transfusion-related data from electronic medical record systems; and b) to derive patient-centered algorithms to create clinical decision support tools for the electronic medical record system and drive hyper-personalized blood transfusion practice. Successful completion of the proposed work may revolutionize the way physicians approach the decision to order a blood transfusion and ultimately change and eliminate the culture of over-transfusion. Subsequent widespread implementation throughout the US could save thousands of lives each year, on par with the goals of the Institute of Medicine?s initiative to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and medication related adverse drug events.
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Aqua Vectors Incorporated
SBIR Phase I: An Innovative Treatment Process for Nitrate Removal from Water
Contact
1654 Moores Hill Road
Syosset, NY 11791–9641
NSF Award
1621986 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,500
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact of this SBIR Phase I project is the development of a low-cost process to mitigating nitrate, a ubiquitous pollutant that is steadily eroding the quality and availability of safe potable water all around the world. This novel process combines and sequences electrochemistry, aqueous chemical reactions, solid oxide formation and surface adsorption processes into a simple continuous-flow unit to achieve high levels of nitrate removal; optimization will be guided by computational techniques that lend themselves to discovery of new materials that may also demonstrate breakthrough potential for other critical fields such as fuel treatment and large scale energy storage. The project offers an opportunity to apply interdisciplinary solutions to complex societal problems and will yield a self-contained unit, inexpensive to build and operate, scalable, modular and reliable. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to develop an inexpensive water treatment module for selective removal of nitrate from aqueous media. The module employs a novel sequence of electrochemically controlled processes to promote in situ formation and ripening of metal hydrous oxide crystals, with documented adsorptive effectiveness, readily separating them from continuously flowing water. The primary objectives of this project are refining and addressing the high risk aspects of this methodology, merging field experience with concepts from published papers, sequencing processes and regulating conditions in novel ways, enhancing adsorption properties while mitigating interferences by oxyanions. The technology will advance understanding of metal hydrous oxides and the kinetics of their formation, which may well inform creation of other inexpensive processes for simultaneous removal of multiple problematic pollutants, potentially recovering them for commercial re-use.
Errata
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Aquanis, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Novel Plasma Actuator for Improved Wind Turbine Performance
Contact
224 Wickham Road
North Kingstown, RI 02852–3505
NSF Award
1647597 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,969
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the reduction in the cost of renewable energy. The dramatic decline in the cost of wind energy over the last several decades has been fueled by the ever increasing turbine size and the introduction of new manufacturing methods and materials. However, the industry is approaching the limits of this trend due to the increased wear and tear of the turbine blades and drive train, caused by unsteady aerodynamic forces. Turbine manufacturers have been studying and testing various approaches to mitigate unsteady aerodynamic loads, including independent blade pitch control, trailing edge flaps, microtabs, boundary layer blowing, and mechanical camber control. Each of these potential solutions is costly, complex, and requires moving parts. As a result, none has moved beyond the prototype stage. The new active load-control system, based on plasma actuators, has the potential to leap-frog all other solutions. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of countering unsteady aerodynamic forces in utility-scale wind turbines by controlling the air flow around the blades with blade-mounted plasma actuators. This fully electronic flow control device will mitigate aerodynamic loads and enable the deployment of larger, more efficient and more durable turbines. Leveraging recent improvement in plasma actuator technology, with a ten-fold increase in thrust, and with one-tenth of the power consumption, a new innovative actuator will be designed, built and tested with 2-4X performance improvement over the current state of the art. This level of performance will be sufficient to counter unsteady aerodynamic forces in large wind turbines with blade tip speeds of up to 200 miles/hour.
Errata
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Arch InnoTek, LLC
STTR Phase I: De Novo Production of Aroma Compounds by Nonconventional Recombinant Yeast
Contact
4320 Forest Park Ave
St Louis, MO 63108–2979
NSF Award
1722313 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/15/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project is to develop an engineered nonmodel yeast platform for the economical and sustainable production of natural aroma compounds. High quality aroma compounds have a variety of applications, ranging from flavor and fragrance to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. With the strong consumer demand for more natural alternatives to chemically synthesized ingredients in both food and personal care items, the production of these ingredients by fermentation will add a renewable source to the supply chain and will reduce demand on botanical sources. This work will advance methodologies and knowledge for creating novel microbial cell factories via 13C-metabolite tracing, metabolic flux analysis, fermentation optimization, and kinetic modeling. The lessons from this research will offer general guidelines for overcoming biosynthesis hurdles and optimizing bioprocess operations, and will facilitate the development of transferable technologies for inexpensive production of diverse natural products that are broadly used for human health and wellness. This STTR Phase I project proposes to integrate synthetic biology and bioprocess engineering to optimize the microbial strain for the de novo production of natural aroma compounds. Because plants carry aroma compounds in extremely low amounts, commercial extracts from plants are not economically viable. To overcome these challenges, this project will develop a novel fermentation process for production of these compounds with high product specificity and yields. Specifically, a nonmodel yeast strain will be engineered via PUSH (increase the supply of the precursor acetyl-CoA), PULL (overexpress key biosynthetic pathway genes), POWER (enhance ATP and NADPH generation) strategies. Further, 13C-metabolic flux analysis will be used to rigorously measure in vivo enzyme functions, to delineate acetyl-CoA supply/consumption pathways, and to identify metabolic burdens or bottleneck factors. Meanwhile, novel simultaneous fermentation and product recovery will be built to improve productivity. The fluxome information and fermentation kinetics will offer guidelines for rational genetic modifications and bioprocess optimizations. Ultimately, this environmentally friendly process would provide a new, reliable and natural manufacture scheme to meet the growing demand of consumers for healthier products.
Errata
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Ares Materials, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Spatially-heterogeneous modulus substrates for stretchable electronics fabrication
Contact
17217 Waterview Parkway
Dallas, TX 75252–8004
NSF Award
1721719 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will assess the commercial viability of a new substrate material specifically designed for reducing the manufacturing complexity of stretchable electronics. Currently a $1.6 million market, stretchable electronics are expected to grow at a cumulative annual growth rate of 101.3% to reach $412 million in sales by 2023 due to the surge in wearable technologies, structural health monitoring devices, and medical diagnostic tools. In part, the current market size for stretchable electronics is limited by the immature manufacturing tools and techniques required, such as transfer- and nano-printing. The research and development funded by the Phase I SBIR could lead to a drastic reduction in manufacturing complexity, allowing stretchable electronic devices to be manufactured using current industry standard photolithographic techniques. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the ability to create electronic substrate materials with intrinsic stiffness differences (those without laminated layers, patterned fillers, etc.) that are defined using standard lithography techniques. Specifically, these substrates can be spatially segregated into regions of low Young's modulus (the soft matrix) and regions of high Young's modulus (the stiff islands) with a difference in modulus between these two regions reaching ratios of 1000:1 (stiff:soft). In the initial work, demonstrations of these spatially-heterogeneous modulus substrates show that spatial resolution can be achieved at the millimeter scale, and can introduce localized strain across the substrate as a function of the patterned stiff regions. The objectives for this project are focused on (a) engineering an optimal starting substrate material with the desired properties for the soft region and (b) demonstrating microfabrication of micropatterned thin-film components (feature sizes < 20 microns) of stiff regions introduced into the material. This Phase I grant will culminate in prototype thin-film electronic components which maintain electrical performance at high global strains, while also showing the capacity of the substrate materials to withstand the harsh thermal and chemical conditions observed during microfabrication.
Errata
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AreteX Systems, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: A Clinical Decision Support System for Fluid Resuscitation for Patients with Sepsis
Contact
221 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030–5891
NSF Award
1648292 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project includes reliable and consistent fluid resuscitation (i.e., intravenous administration of fluids) for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) requiring fluid management. The goal of fluid resuscitation in critically ill patients is to restore blood volume in the circulatory system to an acceptable level in order to ensure adequate tissue perfusion (i.e., blood delivery to tissue). However, large intrapatient and interpatient variability in physiological parameters as well as the effect of different illnesses and medications can result in under- and over-resuscitation of ICU patients by the clinical staff. Optimal fluid resuscitation is especially critical for the recovery of patients with severe sepsis (i.e., patients with sepsis and acute organ dysfunction) or septic shock (i.e., patients with sepsis and persistent or refractory hypotension or tissue hypoperfusion despite adequate fluid resuscitation). In these patients, ineffective arterial circulation due to vasodilation (i.e., dilation of blood vessels) and capillary leakage (i.e., increased distribution of fluids into the interstitial space) needs to be compensated by fluid management. The proposed project involves developing a clinical decision support system for fluid resuscitation for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock in the ICU. Specifically, a cloud-based clinical decision support system will be developed, which will use continuous measurements from hemodynamic monitoring devices to provide actionable feedback for clinicians to optimize fluid management. In this project, a clinical decision support algorithm that will guide the clinician in fluid management will be developed and a clinical study at our partner hospital will be performed. A critical drawback with using a model-based approach to compute the patient's fluid requirement is that accurate parameter values are needed for the model. However, high-fidelity models do not exist and current models cannot fully account for the physiology and response of the patient to fluids. The proposed framework does not need any patient-specific information (e.g., age, gender, weight, diagnosis, concomitant medication, etc.). Furthermore, the framework does not require an accurate model of the patient dynamics and the patient specific physiological parameters.
Errata
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Art of Elements, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Novel Industrially Viable Organometallic Catalyst Technologies
Contact
1176 Tourmaline Drive
Newbury Park, CA 91320–1207
NSF Award
1621126 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be derived from the novel catalyst developed of the project. The project will, if successful, dramatically improve the efficiency and scope of a specific class of industrially significant chemical reactions which are indispensable for the manufacture of many useful products such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and electronics. The improvements, for example, will provide access to newer materials for the production of newer and improved related products to address unmet biological and engineering needs. The catalyst discoveries will also enhance the scientific knowledge base of both fundamental and applied catalysis science. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to develop a collection of novel and improved organometallic catalysts for industrially relevant cross-coupling reactions; and to address current unmet industrial needs for higher catalyst efficiency, selectivity and scope of these reactions. The Phase I research will involve detailed and innovative investigations of the current state-of-the-art catalysts; systematic and iterative design, synthesis, and testing of the new organometallic catalysts; and demonstration of improved performance of the new catalysts in relevant cross-coupling reactions. The catalysis knowledge gained from this Phase I research will enable catalyst design and development efforts in the current project for specific industrial applications. The development and commercialization of a collection of new and improved catalysts in this Phase I project will significantly expand the efficiency and industrial utility of cross- coupling reactions towards creating new products based on this chemistry.
Errata
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Atantares Corp
SBIR Phase I: A novel shear-based platelet function test (PFT) using 3D MEMS electrodes
Contact
13 BRISTOL STREET
Cambridge, MA 02141–1907
NSF Award
1722200 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,984
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project relates to the management of clotting and bleeding which is a major clinical challenge that costs > $100B healthcare system burden. In the United States, it affects more than ten million patients of major surgery, trauma, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancers. The underlying biology is a complex orchestration of protein and cellular pathways that react in the context of blood flow. Proven diagnostic tools that capture this complexity, and also meet the constraints of diverse challenges do not exist. This project intends to create a novel modular hemostasis test platform using proprietary microsystem modules deployed in configurable cartridges tailored to meet clinical requirements. Initially a 3D microelectrode based platelet function test module will be developed and optimized with potential for best in class performance following multi-scale optimization of the dynamic, physical diagnostic environment. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to develop a simple, low cost platelet function assay (PFA) with the objective of delivering best in class performance via multiscale optimization of the local biophysical diagnostic environment. Multiplate Electrode Aggregometry (MEA), a macroscale impedance-based device has already shown promise, yet remains cumbersome and has suboptimal classification accuracy between patient subsets. In MEA tests, as with most PFAs, the role of local fluid shear and macro/microscale physical environment remains largely neglected despite their well-recognized role in platelet response. Preliminary work suggests untapped potential in controlling and modifying PFA performance. By optimizing these signals with respect to clinical end points and subpopulation differentiation, this shear-based micro-platelet function test modules stand to revolutionize platelet function testing for the broadest possible benefits.
Errata
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Atlas Regeneration Technologies, LLC
STTR Phase I: Hardness Sensor Using Cation-Exchange Fibers
Contact
3116 Piedmont Dr
El Paso, TX 79902–2147
NSF Award
1648977 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,470
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will include a research program to prepare new materials for a novel sensor to detect when a water softener needs regeneration. The adoption of a low cost, accurate water hardness sensor can drive a substantial reduction in both the amount of salt released into municipal sewer systems and the amount of water used to rinse the resins. The patent-pending hardness sensor can replace more expensive and less effective components and approaches that are currently utilized by water softeners to initiate regeneration. This will enable penetration into markets which have been underserved due to environmental concerns about salt discharge. Manufacturers of softeners will benefit from the proposed hardness sensor, because it will modernize their regeneration controls while also improving water softening efficiency and environmental sustainability. Annual global water softener sales growth is around 8%. With a 15-20% market penetration, sensor sales could be around $90 million (water softener model). The proposed development of ion-exchange fibers is expected to have applications beyond hardness sensors. The same approach can be used to make anion-exchange fibers that can be employed for the detection of nitrate in devices similar to softeners to remove nitrate from drinking water. The intellectual merit of this project is the development of a new method for making ion-exchange fibers. The proposed work will build upon past research performed and will culminate in the development of commercially available cation-exchange fibers that can be used for hardness sensors and other applications. There is a substantial benefit of using the cation-exchange material of the hardness sensor. The sensor detects the electrical resistance of the entire mass of the cation exchange material between the electrodes. Earlier experiments indicate that cation-exchange fibers offer superior performance compared to membranes, but no commercially available fibers exist. After reliable fibers have been produced, they will be installed in hardness sensors to be evaluated using small column testing equipment at The University of Texas at El Paso, as well as in water softeners outside of the university to validate the salt and water savings potential. The proposed research will include not only sensor development, but also the measurement and control needed to automatically sense hardness and control regeneration in both a water softener resin bed and for the sensor itself.
Errata
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Atoptix, Inc.
STTR Phase I: Smartphone Sensor for Crop Health Assessment and Reduction of Environmental Contamination
Contact
200 Innovation Blvd
State College, PA 16803–6602
NSF Award
1648892 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to optimize and reduce agro-chemical and irrigation applications for the United States agricultural industry, reducing environmental contamination, and increasing overall crop health and production with a smart phone compatible miniaturized optical sensor. The diagnostic sensor, designed for use in the precision agriculture market sector, captures optical spectrographs of a plant that can be used to diagnose the overall health of the plant, and provide recommendations for optimizing care. In discerning whether a plant suffers from a nutrient deficiency, a water stress, or a disease pressure, the sensor provides a means for substantial commercial impact. By providing this market sector with the needed quantitative information to both specialize and optimize crop treatment plans, substantial agro-chemical and irrigation resources are saved. From a societal perspective, these commercial savings directly translate into reduced agro-chemical applications of crops, which help reduce eutrophication of environmental water bodies, protecting drinking water supplies. By optimizing irrigation usage, the sensor reduces irrigation demands, helping ensure the longevity of these sources of irrigation. By enabling big data analysis of optical spectrographs that correlate with underlying crop health conditions, the project provides insight into physiological factors governing crop health, advancing scientific understanding. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is directed towards miniaturizing high precision optical spectrophotometers, traditionally confined to laboratory usage, for use in precision agriculture. The agricultural industry struggles to identify or anticipate changes in crop health and take appropriate measures of response. As multiple environmental stressors or factors can cause similar visual symptoms in a crop, optimal decision-making becomes decidedly difficult, and can lead to costly commercial and societal impacts. In response to this problem, this project aims to first develop a handheld smart phone-based spectrophotometer for real time diagnosis of crop health. Afterwards, the capabilities of the device will be extensively tested in controlled greenhouse studies of crops under varying nutrient and hydration conditions. Finally, the data collected in these studies will be analyzed and benchmarked against gold standard techniques of assessment. From these studies, the performance of the optical sensor will be clearly assessed. Specifically, the degree to which the sensor can discern amongst varying environmental stressors affecting a crop, and also the degree to which the sensor can provide quantitative feedback about the severity of those stressors, will be provided.
Errata
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Aural Analytics
SBIR Phase I: A tool for estimating objective outcome measures in clinical speech applications
Contact
975 S. MYRTLE AVE. COOR 3472
Tempe, AZ 85287–0102
NSF Award
1721483 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to make uniformly high quality practice by Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) accessible to non-ambulatory and underserved rural populations. Because the inability to engage in spoken communication is among the most debilitating of all human conditions, poor access to high quality speech-language pathology services is an important societal issue. It creates significant health disparities affecting not only the quality of peoples' lives but also the economics of their communities. Because speech-language pathology treatment is highly behavioral and intensive, any proposed solution must improve both the performance and productivity of individual SLPs. To provide the necessary scalability required for a nation-wide problem, any implementation must include networked mobile tools as well as a strong algorithmic foundation that automatically generates objective, reliable, and sensitive outcome measures. The project has the potential for significant commercial impact. There are currently 160K SLPs in the US and that number expected to exceed 240K by 2024. Following a software-as-a-service model where clinicians freely download software to their mobile device but need active a subscription to access outcome ratings, projects to a total clinical market of between $20M and $100M. The proposed project addresses the strong demand for the development of dependent objective measures of pathological speech that exists in a variety of clinical settings. Currently, perceptual (subjective) ratings of speech conducted by clinicians are the gold standard for evaluating speech improvement or decline. While it is acknowledged that subjective ratings have poor validity and reliability, objective measures have not been readily available. This project takes a novel intellectual approach to the problem by building machine-learning algorithms that objectively model experts' subjective ratings, but with levels of reliability that far exceed that of clinicians. The computational engine takes as an input a set of speech samples from a speaker and automatically evaluates the speech along clinically-standard perceptual dimensions. This yields outputs that are immediately clinical interpretable, thereby exceeding the value of norm-based objective outcomes. The project goals are, (i) to refine and extend existing technology for the evaluation of pathological speech; and (ii) to rigorously evaluate its performance and utility using beta testing. Statistical analyses will determine whether the model outperforms the human ratings with respect to reliability and sensitivity, as has been the case in pilot tests.
Errata
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AvidCor Inc
SBIR Phase I: Affordable remote cardiac monitoring device for improved firefighter safety outcomes
Contact
2721 Sophiea Parkway
Okemos, MI 48864–4078
NSF Award
1722014 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,002
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve occupational safety and health outcomes within the fire service through translational research and development of an affordable wearable physiologic monitoring device. Nearly 50% of firefighter line of duty deaths are the result of sudden cardiovascular events and the societal costs of firefighter injuries are in the billions of dollars, yet many departments cannot afford the costs of implementing the firefighter monitoring programs. Therefore, the use of an affordable wearable which can gather, store and transmit physiological data in real-time has the potential to reduce fatalities, injuries and costs. The affordability of manufacturing the device is the major commercial innovation as it will extend the physiological monitoring capability to workers exposed to extreme environmental conditions such as firefighters, soldiers, chemical and biological lab technicians, and commercial drivers - groups that have not been able to afford the cost of longitudinal and/or real-time physiological monitoring and predictive diagnostics. The affordability of the device will enable researchers to further scientific knowledge correlating the interrelationship between experimental physiological monitoring and field-based data. The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve occupational safety and health outcomes within the fire service through translational research and development of an affordable wearable physiologic monitoring device. Nearly 50% of firefighter line of duty deaths are the result of sudden cardiovascular events and the societal costs of firefighter injuries are in the billions of dollars, yet many departments cannot afford the costs of implementing the firefighter monitoring programs. Therefore, the use of an affordable wearable which can gather, store and transmit physiological data in real-time has the potential to reduce fatalities, injuries and costs. The affordability of manufacturing the device is the major commercial innovation as it will extend the physiological monitoring capability to workers exposed to extreme environmental conditions such as firefighters, soldiers, chemical and biological lab technicians, and commercial drivers - groups that have not been able to afford the cost of longitudinal and/or real-time physiological monitoring and predictive diagnostics. The affordability of the device will enable researchers to further scientific knowledge correlating the interrelationship between experimental physiological monitoring and field-based data.
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Axion Technologies
SBIR Phase I: Quantum Random Walking for Ultra-High Speed, Parallel and Truly-random Number Generation
Contact
10724 Sycamore Ridge Ln
Tallahassee, FL 32305–1712
NSF Award
1646995 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,825
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project includes: 1) development of novel encryption and authentication technology to improve cybersecurity and 2) the reduction of economic loss due to data breaches. The larger societal need for new technologies in the cyber arena has been well documented over the past 10 years. With the growing dependence on computers in practically every aspect of modern life, use of social media, large industries moving towards high performance (faster) computing networks and the coming era of the Internet of Things (IoT), the market for cyber technology is expected to grow at a steady rate of as much as 15% annually. This project will create a high speed, parallel and Truly-Random Number Generator (TRNG) with signal embedding capabilities. With an optical core, the device will have advantages over many of the currently available, pseudo-RNG devices based on silicon chip technologies that have been shown vulnerable to hackers. Additionally, this device will provide a framework for continuous development and possible online authentication features to compliment the hardware. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will result in development of a prototype device to assess the feasibility of a commercial product. The basis of the innovation is the use of quantum phenomena in optics to create randomness, also known as noise. Quantum mechanics has proven to be the underlying mechanism for noise processes used the world over in encryption of data. In this case, the process of creating noise can be adjusted, oscillated at some frequency, to produce embedded signals overlaid with the random output. This gives the final design applications well beyond encryption. With the rise of high performance computing networks in scientific simulations, health care patient tracking, financial institution accessibility, education, etc., the ability to use the embedding feature to track authentication credentials and perform continuous monitoring of equipment accessing a network becomes paramount to securing networks as well as data. During this project the basic design will be refined with the aim of producing a rescaled, commercial product.
Errata
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AxoSim Technologies LLC
STTR Phase I: Human Microphysiological Model for Assaying the Efficacy of Drugs for Myelin Disorders
Contact
1441 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70112–2714
NSF Award
1622852 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project is to develop a commercially-viable human cell-based model to screen experimental drugs for their efficacy in treating myelin disorders. Current screening methods used in the R&D of new drugs fail to successfully predict translation from discovery to clinical success. This absence results in high attrition rates, increased development time, and significant R&D costs, most acutely in neurological applications. Pharmaceutical companies devote up to 15 years and spend over $2B to bring a single drug to market. On average, 89% of drugs entering clinical trials fail, while drugs targeting the central nervous system (CNS) fail at a rate of 92%, due largely to the poor predictive validity of current animal models. As a case study of demyelinating diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) affects approximately 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million people worldwide. MS therapeutics represent a $17.2B global market, with an estimated late-stage preclinical testing market of $50M annually. Development of the proposed screening platform has the potential to better predict clinical efficacy, while substantially reducing the time and cost associated with developing new drugs for MS and other demyelinating disorders, accelerating treatments for millions of patients. This STTR Phase I project proposes to establish the technical feasibility of using a 3D model of living nerve/brain tissue for screening drugs to treat disorders of myelin, the fatty encasement surrounding nerve axons. The project aims to build on preliminary work to include cells relevant to the central nervous system. It will then be shown that myelination, demyelination, and remyelination can be assessed using clinically-relevant, physiological metrics. The final goal is to demonstrate the feasibility of using a humanized assay, derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, a renewable source of human cells. The resultant model system will be truly unique, comprised of human cells in an anatomical arrangement that mimics living nerve tissue, unlocking the potential for clinically-relevant metrics far earlier in the drug development lifecycle.
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Azimuth1, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Envimetric - Soil and water contamination predictive modeling tools
Contact
501 Church St NE
Vienna, VA 22180–4711
NSF Award
1721607 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to help environmental engineers identify and delineate the bounds and concentrations of soil and groundwater contaminants with greater speed and accuracy. Over 30,000 contaminant spills have been identified in the United States alone, with thousands yet to be investigated and returned to safe levels. The resources and effort being applied to these sites is insufficient to ensure the safety of the affected communities across America. Focusing the remediation resources available, in the right place increases the rate at which federal and state regulators can close site investigations. As a result, environmental professionals will perform remediation earlier, making the site safe and productive again for local communities. The innovations developed in this project will enhance understanding of contaminant migration and develop a technical capability to use these findings to prepare more accurate conceptual site models during a contaminant investigation. Faster site models resulting in successful remediation directly translates into cost savings for environmental clean-ups, reduction in damage to the environment, as well as increased throughput and efficiency for the environmental engineering industry. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to create unique summary models for the flow, extent, depth, and shape of contaminant plumes, with the goal of targeting resources to accelerate the remediation process for local communities. The project leverages algorithmically derived models of contaminant migration combined with public and private data from decades of environmental investigations across the country. Once the data are aggregated and analyzed, the project team will produce a collection of guideline statistics and software tools for use by engineers investigating future sites that are mathematically similar to those in the combined database. The project uses predictive algorithms to determine the likely extent of underground contaminations and applies statistical uncertainty measures to the conceptual site model. These mechanisms will enable environmental professionals to understand when and where additional data is required. In addition, by using a more accurate and sophisticated measure of uncertainty, the project?s models will provide definitive guidance to field engineers on where to collect new sample data and where they have sufficient certainty to remediate the site using excavation or other means. These innovations will lead to the goal of safer and cleaner communities in less time, with fewer costs, with reduced environmental damage.
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Azitra Inc.
STTR Phase I: Re-engineered skin bacteria as a novel topical drug delivery system
Contact
400 Farmington Ave
Farmington, CT 06032–1913
NSF Award
1648819 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/15/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This STTR Phase I project aims to establish the viability of a drug delivery platform that employs an engineered strain of Staphylococcus (S.) epidermidis, a common skin commensal bacterium, that can secrete therapeutic proteins of interest for the ultimate goal of treating skin disease. An ointment with an inoculum of such bacteria could be infrequently applied to skin, providing constant, low-cost, convenient delivery of therapeutic protein in situ. This study proposes proof-of-concept studies to demonstrate that an engineered strain of S. epidermidis can serve as a modular, biological drug delivery chassis that can be modified to treat a range of skin conditions, beginning with atopic dermatitis, Netherton Syndrome, and lamellar ichthyosis. These conditions represent significant commercial opportunities spanning both common and rare diseases, and provide validation for a generalized engineered platform of skin bacteria with broad potential applicability to different skin disorders of multifaceted origin, including genetic, inflammatory, and infectious disorders. Validation of the proposed targets provides the crucial data necessary to attract the talent and investment necessary to build an innovative, diversified skin care company. This project is highly innovative because it proposes using commensal skin microbes to secrete and deliver therapeutic proteins or enzymes that are either missing or could be beneficial in treating certain skin diseases. Current treatment options for many skin diseases aim for symptomatic relief and fail to address underlying pathophysiological changes leading to skin disease. Approaches using direct topical supplementation of purified protein are limited by poor subcutaneous localization to sites of need, production and purification costs, and a requirement for constant application. The proposed Phase I research plan will establish for the first time that (1) commensal bacteria can serve as tunable and highly potent drug delivery systems in the skin; (2) skin commensal bacteria can be manipulated to express and export a therapeutic protein of interest; and (3) commensal bacteria engineered to expresses heterologous proteins can colonize skin stably. This project will be executed using both standard molecular biology tools such as cloning and spectrophotometric analysis as well as advanced methods in confocal imaging and synthetic biology. Together, these studies will establish a new paradigm in drug delivery mechanisms for the treatment of skin diseases, which can also be extended to delivery of broad array of agents to promote skin health.
Errata
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Addenda
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Bakman Technologies LLC
SBIR Phase I: A UAV Mounted Frequency Domain Terahertz Spectrometer for Real-Time, Location Specific, Pollution Detection
Contact
15462 Longbow Dr.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403–4910
NSF Award
1721831 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,601
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 01/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to create an economical, high performance Terahertz (THz) spectrometer mounted to a consumer drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to allow testing of air for the presence of harmful compounds over a specific geographical location. A frequency domain THz spectrometer is capable of characterizing many different molecules and chemicals in a gas sample. Historically these spectrometers have been relegated to the laboratory because of their size and complexity. However, recent advancements have made it possible to build a lightweight spectrometer that can be mounted to a drone. This is significant because the ability to analyze samples locally removes the time and expense of collecting and shipping potentially dangerous compounds (i.e. chemical warfare agents or pollutants) to a laboratory for analysis. It also allows detection and classification to occur on short notice and without the need to subject personnel to the local environment. The THz Drone will allow immediate and accurate detection of many harmful compounds in the air. The proposed project will demonstrate a compact, battery operated, frequency domain THz photomixing spectrometer that is capable of Doppler limited molecular spectroscopy and is constructed predominantly from economical off-the-shelf fiber optic components in a highly compact, light-weight form factor. The brass-board instrument will incorporate an optical phase-modulation technique to remove the effects of coherent detection and it will have a greater than 2 THz bandwidth with a spectral purity of better than 100 kHz. After construction, the instrument will be employed to measure Doppler limited molecular transitions of carbon dioxide mixed with water vapor. Upon the successful demonstration of the capabilities of the instrument, a first-draft design for an integrated system weighing less than 3 kg and capable of being carried with a consumer drone will be generated as will a larger laboratory version of the instrument.
Errata
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Addenda
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Beta Hatch Inc
SBIR Phase I: Production of mealworm biomass and recovery of resources from plastic wastes
Contact
1421 S 192nd Street
Seatac, WA 98117–2328
NSF Award
1648559 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project includes the development of new methods to biodegrade waste plastics. Plastic waste is an significant environmental burden. Over 300 million tons of plastic are used each year, resulting in millions of tons of persistent plastic waste, some of which can take up to 600 years to degrade. Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) can digest polystyrene, also known as Styrofoam, a persistent and widespread source of plastic waste. Beta Hatch Inc. is developing a novel approach to reduce plastic waste. As the mealworms feed, they convert polystyrene into protein and biological waste (frass), both valuable nutrient inputs for animal feed or for fertilizer. This project will screen mealworm strains to identify the best candidates for optimization, develop polystyrene feed mixes to improve the efficiency of digestion, and test the end-products to understand how these might be commercial used. The project will also confirm the safety of polystyrene derived biological products (mealworm protein and frass) for use in the production of non-food animals and fiber crops. This work will support the development of novel and commercially viable approaches for biodegradation of plastics. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to develop the commercial potential of mealworms for plastic bioremediation. Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic long-chain hydrocarbon polymer. It is a major waste product that takes up 30% of landfill space. The formation of strong molecular bonds between neighboring styrene monomers makes polystyrene extremely stable and therefore extremely difficult to degrade. Mealworms are the only proven organism capable of depolymerizing and mineralizing polystyrene, with the help of beneficial gut microbes. However, for polystyrene biodegradation to be commercially viable, the efficiency of digestion needs to be increased, and the safety of products derived from PS feeding needs to be assessed. Existing work has shown that there is strain-specific variability in PS digestion, and that PS digestion efficiency is only ~50% without additional nutrients. Further, PS feeding may decrease the fertility of mealworms, which would limit the long-term commercial feasibility of mealworm based PS-digestion. This project will identify mealworm strains that show high potential for polystyrene (PS) digestion, test the ability to breed animals with enhanced PS capability, develop feed mixes for optimal efficiency of PS biodigestion, quantify impacts of PS feeding on mealworm life cycles, and collect preliminary data on toxicity of PS-derived biomass and frass products. These experiments support the objectives of 1) identifying pathways for scaling up PS biodigestion by mealworms, 2) integration of PS wastes as a feed for mealworm farming, and 3) collection of key data on the marketability of end-products from polystyrene digestion. This feasibility project will also catalyze conversations with customers and regulators on the business challenges and opportunities associated with plastic biodigestion.
Errata
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Addenda
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Biena Tech LLC
STTR Phase I: Multi-functional, epoxy based, low cost nanocomposite coatings for corrosion protection
Contact
526 S MAIN STREET
Akron, OH 44311–4401
NSF Award
1648922 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase-I project is in the development of low cost, environmentally-friendly coating materials for corrosion prevention. Corrosion is a significant global issue, resulting in high maintenance and repair costs. Current anti-corrosion coatings need an improvement in effective barrier against water or moisture. As a result, it is imperative to develop improved corrosion resistance coatings, leading to reduced downtime and damage to equipment and important infrastructure. This study aims to achieve the desired level of barrier properties necessary to significantly improve passive protection of the coated surface. These coating material developed will be sustainable and will use low cost clay as fillers to replace expensive Zinc fillers in coating formulations, completely or partially. The developed technology will have the potential to reduce damages due to corrosion in spectrum of industries spanning infrastructure, shipping, food containers, defense, and automobile domains. Primary fillers used will be non-toxic, abundantly available, versatile, low-cost, and easily adaptable with current coating manufacturing protocols, making them commercially viable. Successful completion of project phase I & II will result in advanced manufacturing job creation and reduce corrosion related costs in industry and improve infrastructure lifetime. The technical objective of this STTR Phase-I proposal is developing a platform technology for multi- functional low cost epoxy-based nanocomposite coatings for corrosion protection. The innovation in the proposed multi-functional coatings lay in deriving the benefits of various fillers and a combinatorial approach to synergistic harvesting of functionality and robustness. Polymer nanocomposites provide an opportunity to harness the maximum benefits of properties when fillers are uniformly dispersed in the host matrix. The structural integrity of metal and its products is directly dependent on its anti-corrosive properties, which can be enhanced using modified clay as fillers. Passive and active protection against corrosion reaction can be achieved by using transition metal ion modified clay as a filler coupled with dispersion and improved polymer-filler interactions. As part of this STTR Phase-I award we will optimize the formulations such that corrosion resistance and other key properties of coatings are enhanced. The validated corrosion resistance coatings will then be translated towards commercial success by: i) producing and benchmarking novel coating formulations for corrosion resistance, ii) scaling-up the production process, iii) mathematical modeling for recursive design of these coatings. At end of the project we will have a superior low cost multi-functional coating with lower toxic footprint.
Errata
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Addenda
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Biomineral Systems LLC
SBIR Phase I: Novel Biomimetic Production of Broad-Spectrum Fungicide BioSurF-I
Contact
3315 Bremen Hwy
Mishawaka, IN 46544–9346
NSF Award
1721879 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,911
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be the development of a biofungicide for application on organic farms as well as conventional farms and home and lawn care as an alternative to chemical fungicides. More than 70% of all major crop diseases are caused by fungi. Despite intensive disease control practices, these pathogens are still causing crop losses averaging 13% with economic losses up to $100 billion annually. The proposed research will address the need for sustainable food production by development of methods/technologies to reduce or eliminate the usage of chemical pesticides. It will reduce the impact of plant pathogens, insect pests, and abiotic stresses on crop plants by inducing systemic resistance in crops. Unlike chemical fungicides, it will be eco-friendly and will prevent development of anti-fungal resistance in plant pathogens. Furthermore, reduction in chemical fungicide usage (produced using fossil fuels) will reduce US dependence on fossil fuels and promote environmental sustainability. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a novel, broad spectrum, biofungicide for crop protection as an alternative to chemical fungicides. The novel broad spectrum fungicide is based on a fermentative strategy utilizing non-pathogenic microorganisms and low-cost carbon substrates. Antifungal activity testing in in vitro and in vivo assays demonstrated broad spectrum fungicidal activity against multiple fungal pathogens that cause diseases in cereals, fruit, and vegetable crops. The use of chemical fungicides produced from fossil fuels has been shown to have adverse environmental effects on non-target organisms, and mammals. In addition, combinations of chemical fungicides are required to attain crop protection, yet fungal pathogens quickly become resistant to chemical fungicides. The proposed broad spectrum biofungicide has no mammalian toxicity, and has been shown to be safe for non-target anthropods like honey bees. It also has been shown to not inhibit the growth of beneficial fungi. As part of the Phase I research plan, the aims are to scale up production and test the biofungicide under development in small plot trials.
Errata
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Addenda
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Bionic Sciences, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Developing the Standalone Tongue Drive System
Contact
85 Fifth St NW, TSRB419
Atlanta, GA 30308–1064
NSF Award
1621673 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,888
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project centers on bringing enhanced independence, productivity, and quality of life for hundreds of thousands of individuals in the US who suffer severe physical disability due to spinal cord injury or other debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Due to improvements in emergency medicine and increasing average age in the society, these individuals represent a growing population that is underserved by current assistive technologies (ATs). The ATs being relied upon to carry out basic tasks are still primitive, offer limited versatility, and fail to meet end-user needs. Meanwhile, computers and internet play ever-growing roles in everyday life and are regarded as equalizers that allow all individuals to have similar vocational, recreational, and educational opportunities. The Tongue Drive System (TDS) offers individuals with severe physical disabilities an intuitive and superior mechanism for accessing computer based resources ? wheelchairs, smartphones, computers, smart homes, etc. TDS harnesses the power of the tongue, which often retains full capability in these individuals despite losses of other body functions, to drive human-computer interfaces. TDS has the potential to revolutionize the current US AT market with an overall anticipated market size of $1B within its primary market segment. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to establish a new architecture for a wireless and wearable tongue drive system (TDS) to address existing barriers to commercialization. While functional, the current research-grade TDS prototype is based upon a sub-optimal architecture relying on multiple devices to process and deliver user commands, opening the door to reliability, performance, and safety issues. The current system?s reliance on off-board processing, the commonly used 2.4 GHz band, and the use of multiple wireless links for command transmission result in a slow implementation that is sensitive to packet loss and interference. In safety critical modes of operation, such as steering a powered wheelchair, these sources of risk and performance degradation are unacceptable. The proposed research will consolidate key TDS functions within a standalone TDS headset that can interface with any target peripheral with a direct wireless link. Hardware redesigns will include a powerful microcontroller to onboard sensor data acquisition and signal processing algorithms. Dual radio chipsets will be incorporated to maintain interoperability with commercial devices using 2.4 GHz radios, while also supporting less utilized frequency bands for safety critical operations. The result of this research will be a robust AT suitable for safely critical deployments.
Errata
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Addenda
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Bioxytech Retina
SBIR Phase I: Non-Invasive Retinal Oximetry for Detecting Diabetic Retinopathy prior to Structural Damage
Contact
408 Anita Ave
Beltmont, CA 94002–2011
NSF Award
1647279 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project develops a non-invasive imaging technology to help save the vision of patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of vision loss in the US and worldwide. The American Diabetes Association estimates that DR causes $98 billion in lost productivity and medical expenses annually. DR is a complication of both type I and II diabetes and results in structural damage to the sensitive vasculature of the retina. Once structural damage is inflicted, it is difficult, if not impossible, to ameliorate it. Recent studies have demonstrated that small changes in the retinal vasculature's oxygen saturation are a reliable indicator of pre-stage and early-stage DR -- before structural damage occurs. Since there is no clinical non-invasive technology capable of achieving such a high resolution, a major need exists for the development of advanced retinal oximetry technologies with demonstrated clinical utility. This project aims to meet this major need based on a novel approach to functional imaging, thereby improving the lives of U.S. citizens and reducing the devastating economic impact of DR. By mitigating its occurrence, the technology developed as a result of this project will help reduce the cost of DR treatment and its overall economic burden. This SBIR Phase I project develops a non-invasive imaging technology to provide high-resolution retinal oxygen saturation maps of diabetic patients in one snapshot. There are no existing commercial technologies with these capabilities; the proposed technology is a first-of-its-kind effort. Compared with existing methods, the successful outcome of this project can become a commercial technology-of-choice for ophthalmologists around the world, enabling cost-effective detection of early stage diabetic retinopathy or pre-retinopathy. This non-invasive, instantaneous and easy-to-use biophotonics technology will aid in both the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetic retinopathy. This project's scope includes three parts. First, bench-scale studies will validate the innovative, physics-based concept and algorithm proposed as the basis of the technology. Second, a prototype will be developed and tested. Finally, the technology prototype will be validated in a clinical setting to establish the utility and effectiveness of the technology in an actual operating environment.
Errata
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Addenda
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BirdBrain Technologies
STTR Phase I: A Low Cost Robotics kit for Elementary Education
Contact
544 Miltenberger St
Pittsburgh, PA 15219–5971
NSF Award
1648747 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This project intends to design and develop a programmable electronics and robotics kit that catalyzes the learning of computational thinking, engineering design, and making at a price point that will be affordable for large numbers of elementary school classrooms throughout the nation. Such an educational robotics kit benefits society by positively influencing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and, thereby, encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to enter the technology innovation workplace, spurring innovation and entrepreneurism in the nation. This project aims to create an authentic, affordable STEM curricular tool by combining low-cost technologies already in the marketplace, but in a novel manner. These technologies include wireless communications systems now available on low-cost touch tablets, as well as powerful, inexpensive microprocessors that enable small, custom hardware kits to communicate with such tablets. By combining the sensing of environmental values such as light and sound levels with motors, lights and other output expressions, this kit will provide a chance for students to think at the systems level. They will create interactive sculptural robots and connect systems thinking to programming, engineering, and design, all of which are lifelong skills for the STEM-focused future. This project combines wireless communication, tablets, and embedded microcontroller technologies to converge on an interactive system for specifying the behavior of a responsive, environmental-sensing robot and to then lock the resulting behavior onboard the microcontroller, creating a programmable, responsive robot system for education at the lowest cost possible. Robot-to-robot communication is effected using mesh networking, enabling sensor sharing and synchronization of action across robots in a classroom. A newly designed drag-and-drop programming interface on the tablet screen demonstrates the basic concepts of feedback control systems and directly programs the embedded microprocessor. Uploading of the feedback control system specification directly to the microprocessor, in turn, enables autonomous operation of the robot without the need for a dedicated programming tablet at all times. This project makes use of participatory design, interaction design, hardware architecture, firmware programming, and supply chain analysis to arrive at a usable system that can be produced in large quantities as appropriate for national and international demand. The participatory design portion of this work will include direct, collaborative pilots deployed in local schools; professional development opportunities for participating teachers; and formative evaluations of hands-on robotic activities, with prototypes, in classrooms. This project will lead directly to the commercialization of a bridge product that combines features of the final educational robotics kit with a working tablet app suitable for immediate use in elementary school classrooms.
Errata
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Addenda
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BlackBoiler, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Automatic Editing Through Semantic Alignment with Deep Learning
Contact
1537 N. Ivanhoe St
Arlington, VA 22205–2742
NSF Award
1721878 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to render the tedious, time-consuming, and expensive manual process of contract review and negotiation as archaic. The outcome from the proposed research will accurately review and negotiate in-bound contracts based on a user's history of reviewing and negotiating just a handful of similar contracts and will result in (a) a 50-90% reduction in companies' contract review and negotiation time and (b) standardized risk across all contracts within an organization. Furthermore, the proposed research will provide small and medium-sized businesses with the ability to afford and obtain the same quality of legal review of in-bound contracts as the largest and most sophisticated companies in the world. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project will develop the first system to automate edits in contracts through semantic sentence alignment with deep learning techniques. The proposed research will expand upon state-of-the-art methodologies for unsupervised learning of distributed representation of various length text segments and then launch the first and only machine learning platform that automates contract review and negotiation with semantic editing capabilities.
Errata
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Addenda
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BrainStem Biometrics
SBIR Phase I: Development and Testing of a Mini Wearable Device that Doctors Can use to Know if it is too Soon or Not to Send A premature Baby Home
Contact
2352 MAIN ST STE 201
Concord, MA 01742–3847
NSF Award
1648567 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project would be to make it safer to send premature babies home after their stay in the NICU. They will be more likely to grow and thrive while they regain valuable bonding time with their parents. The risk of having to readmit babies would go down. Complications and maybe even SIDS could be reduced, because we would have a better way to measure and understand the development of these babies after they leave the hospital but continue to mature for the first year. Our physicians are excellent, but their decisions can only be as reliable as the information they are provided. Many cases doctors are forced to make difficult decisions between keeping a baby longer at greater cost and further separation or sending the baby home to begin a new life, but at the risk that the baby's central nervous system may not be quite up to the job of keeping the basic heart, lung and temperature at the right levels. This project will give physicians better more accurate information to reduce the guesswork and keep the babies safe. The proposed project will result in a miniature throw away sensor strip that nurses stick on the outer eyelid of a premature baby. The technology, called OMT allows us to read the innermost control signals of the deepest and most important part of the brain called the brainstem. Neuroscientists now know that one of the most important jobs that the brainstem does is to help control the most basic primitive life functions such as changing the rate of breathing, body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate. Develop a thin film sensor and instrument that is capable of successfully recording brainstem biosignals in premature babies, both technically and physiologically, and; demonstrate that it is possible to distinguish between pre-terms with and without discharge problems The project plan is to complete the design and assembly of the instrument and to sample the data from a late pre-term infant to determine basic viability of signal and satisfactory detection. Following that the team will produce a small lot of sensors and several test units to measure 9-18 young patients in three cohorts. This basic validation of the instrument and clinical value is the key next step to successful commercialization of the product.
Errata
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Addenda
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Braket Technologies, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Development of a Non-Destructive Fatigue Monitoring System
Contact
2322 Wordsworth St.
Houston, TX 77030–2080
NSF Award
1720870 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 03/31/2018
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 project proposes to develop an advanced non-contact, non-destructive monitoring technology to reliably identify early fatigue damage in pipelines, piping, and tubing. Current industry practice relies on statistically based, semi-empirical models that unfortunately can have an order of magnitude in error in predicting fatigue life, a leading failure mode in metals that are exposed to high cycling, high strain, and/or elevated pressures and temperatures. The United States infrastructure relies on millions of miles of pipes, pipelines, and tubing that are critical in the transport of valuable fluids serving a number of industries including municipal water, production and transport of oil and gas, and chemicals in processing plants. Unfortunately, this aging infrastructure can fail with disastrous consequences. The successful development and commercialization of this new technology will be a great leap in integrity monitoring, resulting in significant reduction in costs and delays, and eliminating catastrophic failures in the field. The estimated total addressable market for pipeline and coil tubing monitoring are in excess of $4 billion annually. The intellectual merit of this SBIR project centers on the demonstration of the technical and economic feasibility of this novel fatigue monitoring technology with a specific target of identifying when the material has reached 90% of its actual fatigue life. The technology is based on a novel electromagnetic measurement scheme that can effectively detect magnetic dislocations in the material which have been shown to be early indicators of failure due to fatigue. Using advanced analytics, strong correlations between the measured electromagnetic properties and fatigue life can provide a direct and reliable identifier of imminent fatigue damage without loss of material integrity. The major challenges that this SBIR effort proposes to address are (1) engineering an electromagnetic-based measurement technique with sufficient sensitivity to detect the magnetic defects seen in early fatigue damage under field operating conditions (2) developing appropriate detection algorithms to handle the statistical variations affecting fatigue damage and (3) engineering a cost-effective monitoring solutions compared with alternative fatigue management practices.
Errata
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Breath Diagnostics, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: A Chemoselective Microreactor for Breath Analysis
Contact
9418 Norton Commons Blvd
Prospect, KY 40059–7654
NSF Award
1648115 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR phase I project seeks to address the critical need for lung cancer diagnosis at an early stage. North America has the highest age-standardized incidence of lung cancer in the world. An estimated 224,390 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed this year and 158,080 deaths are predicted to occur due to lung cancer in 2016. The five-year survival rate for lung cancer patients is much lower when compared to other common cancers due to late-stage diagnosis of the disease in these patients. The survival rate for lung cancer patients significantly improves when the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage. Early detection of lung cancer by computed tomography scanning is disadvantageous to high false positive rates and the need for invasive and expensive follow-up procedures. The breath analysis technology described in this project can mitigate this health crisis by drastically reducing false positives, lowering the cost of diagnosis and reducing the need for repeated radiographic scans or invasive biopsies. Moreover, the cutting-edge breath analysis technology described in this project can be used for other applications, such as environmental monitoring or detecting other diseases including cancers elsewhere in the body. The central innovation proposed in this project is a silicon microreactor consisting of micropillars coated with a carbonyl-selective reagent that covalently captures volatile carbonyls of cancer metabolism exhaled in alveolar breath. The microreactor retains the adducts of these metabolic markers, concentrating them up to 10,000-fold, while allowing all other tidal breath components to pass through unaffected. The biomarker adducts of the chemoselective reagent are eluted from the microreactor using methanol and then quantified via mass spectrometry. Elevated concentrations of certain carbonyl biomarkers are indicative of cancer. The Phase I research objectives are to demonstrate the effectiveness of newly engineered, fast-flow microreactors coated with chemoselective reagents designed for enhanced reactions with unsaturated aldehydes. The microreactor design will be optimized so as to evacuate exhaled breath samples through the microreactors at 10-fold the current rate without compromising VOC capture efficiencies. Also, new hydrazine-based reagents will be synthesized to serve as microreactor coatings in combination with the current carbonyl-selective microreactor coating. These innovations will enable the microreactor approach to overcome the critical challenges faced by current breath analysis technologies for early detection of lung cancer.
Errata
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C&B Tech
SBIR Phase I: Novel Semiconductor Warpage Measurement Device
Contact
6370 Lusk Blvd F-110
San Diego, CA 92121–2751
NSF Award
1647636 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide a novel approach to evaluate the reliability of IC chips and electronic devices. Forced by the shrinking size and miniaturization of electronic component and devices, products are being designed with little margin regarding reliability and performance, and the reliability issue has been a great challenge. Reliability must be evaluated to estimate its real field life span, and weak link must be assessed to identify the potential failure risk. This novel approach could indicate the potential design risk through enhanced measurement input for full field deformation and provide better understanding of the interaction of different materials due to coefficient of thermal expansion miss match at elevated temperature. This innovation will provide detailed information to identify potential failure risk and improve design, and therefore reduce immature failure of electronic component and devices, creating a strong value proposition for our customers. The proposed project will develop a measurement approach to achieve simultaneous measurements of warpage, coefficient of thermal expansion and strain on semiconductor devises. Warpage and coefficient of thermal expansion measurement above glass transition temperature are poorly measured due to the glassy state of materials. This project will develop an approach for accurate measurement using a novel image correlation technology through different media with changing indexes of refraction. This is a critical step for measurement of IC chip warpage and coefficient of thermal expansion through a glass viewing window at elevated temperatures. Experiments are proposed to validate the methodology in the application of high temperature warpage and material coefficient of thermal expansion measurement. The goal of this project is to improve warpage measurement resolution by 5 times, and solve material coefficient of thermal expansion measurement issue above glass transition, and realize warpage, coefficient of thermal expansion and strain measurement at the same time.
Errata
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CGeneTech, Inc.
STTR Phase I: A Non-Chromatographic Technique for Synthetic Oligodeoxynucleotide Purification
Contact
7202 East 87ST
Indianapolis, IN 46256–1200
NSF Award
1720774 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project will be the development of a novel method for synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide purification. Currently, most oligodeoxynucleotides are purified using chromatography. The techniques are expensive or difficult to scale up, and unsuitable for parallel purification of multiple different samples. The proposed technology is easy to scale up for large-scale purification and suitable for parallel purification. Several areas that require synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides will benefit from the technology including oligodeoxynucleotide therapeutics and oligodeoxynucleotides used in genome assembly for synthetic biology applications. For therapeutic manufacturing, the proposed technology is expected to bring down the cost of production. For synthetic biology, the bottleneck is in the area is de novo construction of genomes, which requires large numbers of synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides. Parallel purification using the proposed technology will make these materials more affordable. In addition, the proposed technology can be readily extended to purify other biooligomers including peptides and oligosaccharides. This extension will have a high impact in areas such as biomedical research. This STTR Phase I project proposes to method for synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide purification based on the "catching by polymerization" concept for the purification of synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides. Currently, most synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides are purified using chromatography methods, which rely on the rate of speed difference at which product and impurities travel in a solid matrix when eluted with solvents for separation. Drawbacks include expensive instrumentation, intensive labor, use of large volumes of harmful solvents and inability to purify long sequences. This method is expensive to scale up and unsuitable for parallel purification. This project aims to commercialize the catching full-length sequence by polymerization oligodeoxynucleotide purification technology to solve these problems. The method works by selectively tagging a polymerizable group to the oligodeoxynucleotide product, polymerizing it into an insoluble polymer, washing away all impurities and then cleaving the product from the polymer. Because the principle on which the product is separated from impurities is drastically different from that of chromatography methods, the proposed technique has many advantages, which include no need for expensive instrumentation, simple-to-use, low waste to product ratio, and suitability for purification of long sequences. Additionally, the new technique is readily scalable for large-scale purification, and can be easily adopted for parallel purification.
Errata
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Addenda
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CN3 Systems, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Container Grids for Software Defined Security
Contact
3007 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94115–1022
NSF Award
1722408 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 03/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project appears in three areas. First, there is an $8B dollar market for legacy hardware network security products today that is in transition to Software Defined Security. Adoption of this general SDSec platform has the potential to accelerate that market transition and improve enterprise security. Second, this project's success as an open platform could dramatically shorten the time between research insight and at-scale production deployments; security software built to a lower bar of scale/resiliency is faster and easier to build. The end result will be an increased rate of innovation, and new markets for niche, fit-for-purpose security functions that today are not profitable for vendors to build. Last, this platform could harmonize enterprise security investments and practices for on premise workloads with security investments for public cloud workloads, solving a key dilemma faced by leading IT organizations. This will make those organizations more competitive on the world stage. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the two hardest technical challenges in building an enterprise-grade network security function, scale and resiliency, in a general way that can be applied to both new products and legacy codebases with no code change. Addressing scale/resiliency problems in a general way across many network security functions is novel, and this particular approach of massively parallel, lightweight packet processing functions to achieve this is new to this domain. Why now? The massively parallel design proposed here is far too expensive and impractical with traditional hardware-based network functions. Even traditional hypervisor-based virtual machines carry too much hardware overhead to make this design cost competitive. By using vSwitches and network security functions packaged as Linux containers, the hardware overhead cost per instance drops dramatically, and this class of approach for scale/resiliency may be proven practical.
Errata
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Addenda
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CV Technology, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Clean Air Exhuast Lines Explosion Isolation Device for Combustible Dust Applications
Contact
15852 Mercantile Ct Ste 100
Jupiter, FL 33478–6437
NSF Award
1621794 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 02/28/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to provide a safer working environment for powder bulk handling facilities, while simultaneously helping the facility reduce its energy consumption by allowing it to recycle conditioned air back into the building. The risk associated with combustible dusts are catastrophic, yet the awareness of the risks is still lacking. Commercially, this project would design a product that would be installed at powder bulk handling facilities, that handle combustible dust, that would prevent fire propagation from the combustion of dust from entering the work area of the facility. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are developing an economical device which will act as a flame and pressure arrestor for dust deflagrations, while maintaining enough airflow through the device to allow the process to be balanced. Determining an appropriate stack-up of mesh material that will quench the propagating deflagration, while also withstand the pressures developed during a deflagration, will also help expand the field of knowledge of combustible dust, and developing protection equipment for them. Through the development of this product, additional full scale test will have to be performed which will add to the database of how combustible dust events occur and react.
Errata
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Addenda
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California Wave Power Technologies, LLC
STTR Phase I: Wave Carpet Ocean Demonstration
Contact
1387 Scenic Ave
Berkeley, CA 94708–1809
NSF Award
1648834 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
This STTR Phase 1 project enables the development and validation of a fully operational hydraulic Power Conversion Chain (PCC) designed specifically for an ocean Wave Energy Converter (WEC). A WEC's PCC is responsible for converting absorbed mechanical power to electrical power. Ocean wave energy is currently an underutilized resource that has the potential to become an important part of a renewable energy mix providing power up to a third of the US while reducing carbon emissions alongside with wind and solar power. However, device survivability is a key challenge that has thus far held the wave energy industry back. This project includes the testing and validation of various hydraulic safety mechanisms, advancing the PCC as part of a broader strategy for WEC survivability. This STTR Phase 1 project will directly support the development and validation of a Power Conversion Chain (PCC) as part of a larger effort to design, construct, and test a full-scale Wave Energy Converter (WEC) prototype in an ocean deployment. The PCC will be tested using a hardware-in-the-loop approach, in which a computer simulation of the WEC is coupled directly to the physical PCC elements. This real-time feedback will allow the PCC's performance to be evaluated for realistic ocean wave climates, and will facilitate rapid testing of critical safety mechanisms using the actual components in a safe laboratory environment. Results from the tests will be compared with a high-fidelity computer model of the PCC to validated performance. Once proven, the PCC will be incorporated into a revolutionary WEC design, which offers superior storm survivability and power consistency.
Errata
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Addenda
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Camerad Technologies, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Integrating Patient Photographs with Medical Imaging Examinations to Reduce Medical Errors
Contact
537 S Westminster Way NE
Atlanta, GA 30307–1190
NSF Award
1647687 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is widespread adoption of a technology with a direct cost-savings in healthcare. It is estimated that nearly 5,000 patients are harmed each year due to wrong-patient errors in medical imaging. Additionally, even a 10% improvement in efficiency in radiologists' performance would translate to ~$900 million savings to the overall health care budget. Finally, an indirect, but impactful outcome is the potential to improve the relevance and accuracy of medical imaging reports. It is anticipated that pairing the medical imaging studies to the patient photographs of the patient's face and upper body, where tubes and wires are often located, can provide important clinical information in a rapid and efficient manner. In the broadest terms, this novel technology can be translated to provide patient authentication and identification for the digital data that is being generated by hundreds of new medical devices. The proposed project concerns the seamless integration of a patient Identification system in hospitals to improve patient safety and radiology throughput. The intellectual merit of this work is a transformative approach overcoming the failure of existing patient identification methods while harnessing the power of an embedded camera system to improve patient care. Toward this goal this work will develop an imaging synchronization technology that automatically obtains and embeds a photograph of the patient's face and upper body onto the x-ray taken during an imaging examination. To test and establish feasibility, the initial target of this technology will be portable x-ray machines brought to the patient's bedside in high volume settings. Specifically, the proposed work will 1) incorporate face-tracking technology to ensure the patient's face and torso are always captured by the camera, 2) conduct a feasibly study in a real-world setting by deploying the technology on ~6 portable radiography machines at a large academic hospital where it will be integrated with the hospital's Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), and 3) perform preliminary workflow studies. The long term objectives are to 1) increase the detection rate of wrong-patient errors by embedding an intrinsic, externally visible biometric identifier with medical imaging studies; and 2) decrease turn-around time by decreasing interpretation time.
Errata
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Addenda
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Celvive Inc
SBIR Phase I: Development of a closed system for autologous cell therapy
Contact
120 Albany Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901–2122
NSF Award
1621767 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project will be to transform the current models for bone marrow- and cord blood-derived cell therapies and make cell therapy, especially the patients' own cells, more widely available for use by healthcare providers and patients. Two major technical hurdles in the regenerative medicine field have prevented the translation of cell therapy from the bench to the bedside, despite the huge surge in clinical trials being conducted worldwide: 1) The lack of devices for the isolation of native clinically active bone marrow or cord blood derived cells without gradient selection and centrifugation that lead to cell loss and decreased cell viability; and 2) The logistical hurdles of cell isolation and processing in "centralized" cell production facilities. The prevalent approaches involve the collection of patient tissues such as bone marrow samples at hospitals, transport of samples to the central cell production facilities, isolation and expansion of cells using different protocols, and transporting the cell product back to the hospital sites for transplantation into patients. Every step of this cell therapy and transplantation process is expensive, involves multiple teams and poses a potential risk for introducing contamination, cellular loss and other complications. The technology proposed in this project is incorporated in a device that has the potential to overcome these two hurdles. The device allows the derivation of adherent bone marrow cells (ABMCs) that are native or minimally manipulated, in a GMP-compliant process for isolation and delivery of cells for cell therapy applications in hospitals and outpatient clinics, thereby circumventing transportation requirement and central facility processing and making cell therapy more widely available. This STTR Phase I project proposes to overcome the hurdles in the regenerative medicine field by developing a device that enables GMP-grade stem cell processing in a functionally closed system. This project will validate GMP-grade isolation of the fraction of the bone marrow, the adherent bone marrow cells (ABMCs) for use in cell therapy applications, initially for spinal cord injuries. While the ultimate goal is to conduct IND enabling studies, this Phase I grant objectives covers: 1) GMP-compliant coating of the device surface with matrix molecules and validation for efficient collection of ABMCs, 2) Post processing validation of ABMC sample integrity. Since the device also has a provision component for freezing of the processed samples, objective 3) is to validate ABMC freezing and cell recovery. Safety assays will include sterility and end product monitoring. Non-retrospective flow cytometry assays will be utilized to analyze CD34, CD44, CD45, CD73, CD90, CD105, CD106, CD166, and CD271 expression, essential markers that distinguish ABMCs. Higher percentages of CD106 and CD271 are expected for ABMCs. The potential for CFU-F formation, along with adipogenic, osteogenic and neuronal potentials of ABMCs will be examined and compared with standard mesenchymal stem cells. The collection of bone marrow cells with superior regenerative potentials, as indicated with previous pilot studies, is anticipated.
Errata
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Addenda
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Cerillo, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Development of a Miniaturized Multiwell Plate Reader
Contact
224A Shamrock Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903–3726
NSF Award
1647768 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be the alleviation of several current difficulties in the growth measurement of many bacterial species, especially anaerobic and other fastidious organisms. A large number of these species are naturally occurring in the human body, and they have recently been shown to play critical roles in allergies, autoimmune diseases, dietary health, cancer, infection response, and more. The study of these species is considered by many to be the next frontier of modern medicine, especially as current approaches to managing infectious diseases, such as traditional antibiotics, appear to be losing effectiveness. However, current measurement technology is largely incompatible with the specialized environments and chambers in which anaerobic organisms must be grown. There is therefore a large unmet need for better ways to measure anaerobic bacterial growth; this need is growing quickly as interest in the field increases. The ability to conduct high-throughput experiments in specialized environments will become critical as research into various human microbiomes accelerates, and demand for high-volume data grows. The existing market for high-throughput measurement devices is at least $300 million and growing; the proposed technology will expand that market to fields it has never served. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop technology for measuring growth of many bacterial samples in a format much smaller than currently available high-throughput devices. The rise of systems and computational biology demonstrates a growing demand for large amounts of quantitative data; the variety of microbes in the human body necessitates such an approach. However, this type of data is currently nearly impossible to collect in anaerobic and other specialized environments. This project aims to bring high-throughput growth measurement techniques to these environments by creating simplified, miniaturized hardware paired with advanced real-time analysis and control software. The project?s first objective is to refine a novel proof-of-concept optical density measurement method to achieve accuracy and precision comparable to traditional techniques, and verify using bacterial growth and inorganic liquid testing. The next goal is to design a hardware enclosure small and robust enough to allow compatibility with the smallest and most taxing environments. Finally, software will be developed to manage a high number of bacterial experiments (and devices) running in parallel without sacrificing data fidelity or high resolution. It is anticipated that the resulting high-throughput measurement system will greatly expand researchers' abilities to characterize microbes of increasing clinical relevance.
Errata
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Addenda
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Chef Koochooloo
SBIR Phase I: A novel approach to STEM education through a personalized mobile cooking app for K-8 students
Contact
179 Georgetown Court
Mountain View, CA 94043–5265
NSF Award
1722436 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase II project deals with the development of a gamified educational platform meant to excite and inspire children to learn about the sciences through the medium of cooking. By engaging students with interactive content in K-8 classrooms, after school programs, and special education settings, the proposed innovation aims to simultaneously accomplish three outcomes that are important to K-8 students' education and healthy living. These outcomes include: (1) helping students develop a highly practical skill (cooking), (2) generating excitement about and enhancing learning in several scientific disciplines (particularly nutrition science, STEM, and human geography), and (3) promoting a highly desirable behavior in students (the development of healthy eating habits). This project proposes to develop a prototype version of the innovative educational technology. It builds upon an existing proof-of-concept application that integrates nutrition science (in the form of cooking recipes) with human geography (different countries and cultures) and significantly enhances this application by innovatively linking the cooking-related content to a STEM curriculum and testing the addition of a variety of capabilities meant to increase user engagement and learning through the application. This Phase I proposal will research the feasibility and usability of the product, and investigate the extent to which the proposed technology is able to simultaneously achieve the three stated outcomes in a way that outperforms traditional paper-based school curricula. With the market for mobile learning products valued at $12.2 billion, the company's three-pronged approach to improving learning and health-related outcomes for K-8 students stands to generate significant revenue. The team estimates that the business can reach roughly 2 million in sales in the first three years following the product?s launch. The proposed research will explore (1) various ways for the system to automatically link cooking concepts with STEM concepts in a way that enhances learning and engagement and produces a curriculum compliant with Next Generation Science Standards, (2) the application of emotional intelligence to data gathered, such that the technology will track students? mood and food choices, and provide suggestions based on an optimal match between the two, and (3) the use of adaptive learning to effectively deliver the above curriculum in a targeted and personalized manner (including accommodations for children with special needs during Phase II). These outcomes will be achieved by creating and testing new capabilities for the system, including the ability to monitor user performance, a points-based progression system, personalization, customized STEM games, and matching students with recipes and lesson plans based on their culinary preferences and emotional moods, the majority of which will be implemented via the use of machine learning. Overall, the goal of the small business is to develop several different app features that incorporate the above-mentioned approaches, and to determine, through repeated and rigorous classroom testing with K-8 students, which combination of features maximizes the learning and behavioral outcomes that the application is targeting.
Errata
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Addenda
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Chromatic 3D Materials Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Novel Dynamic Elastomer System for Additive Manufacturing
Contact
15292 80th Pl N
Maple Grove, MN 55311–2166
NSF Award
1721797 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will create a novel set of materials for additive manufacturing technologies. Additive manufacturing, or 3D Printing, is a rapidly growing $5bn industry, which enables small and medium enterprises to competitively manufacture new and innovative products. It is a key to strengthening the US manufacturing economy. Continued growth and health of the 3D printing industry, particularly for manufacture of functional parts for finished goods, will depend upon an expansion of the available material library. 3D printing materials are limited to a small segment of the plastics in common industrial use today. This project will expand that material library with development of printable polyurethane elastomers with a broad range of flexibilities. These materials will be particularly relevant for markets that demand personalization and customization, such as patient-specific medical devices, sporting goods, and footwear. Manufacturers of flexible, durable polyurethane goods for industrial and automotive products will also benefit from low cost small-scale production of parts made from materials with performance that match their product specifications. The printing system will enable production of parts with user-specified geometry and flexibility, and will also enable multi-material printing for novel product designs. This SBIR Phase I project will produce a set of reactive polyurethane precursor formulas which can be combined to form printable, flexible polyurethanes with a broad hardness range. The materials will be printed using extrusion 3D printing techniques, and customized to handle liquid, reactive feeds. The research approach will include determination of the starting materials to control reaction rates, rheology development, and part solidification. Reaction kinetics control will be critical to develop a robust printing process and to overcome issues with print-direction strength that are common in extrusion printing processes. Raw material reactivity, catalyst selection, and relative concentrations of formulation components will be key experimental parameters. Accessing a range of flexibility will require building formulas with varied molecular weights, and these formula variations will be balanced with resin printability. This 3D printing technology will overcome challenges in part durability and printing speeds that are common to photo-cure approaches to produce flexible parts, and will greatly extend the part durability and flexibility available to extrusion 3D printing.
Errata
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Addenda
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ClearFlame Engines, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Development of a Stoichiometric, Direct-Injected, Soot-Free Engine for Heavy-Duty Applications
Contact
6520 Double Eagle Drive #527
Woodridge, IL 60517–1582
NSF Award
1721358 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will focus on the development of a new alternative to Diesel engines for use in heavy-duty applications such as on-road transportation, off-road farm equipment, and stationary power generation. Currently, Diesel engines are used in all of these applications because they are robust and powerful. Unfortunately, they also produce significant smog, soot, and greenhouse gases that are damaging to individuals and the environment. In contrast, the engines developed under this project will have cleaner exhaust while producing more power at increased efficiency, all while utilizing inexpensive alternative fuels. Since Diesel-fueled engines move 70% of the world's goods, and produce 30% of distributed power around the globe, these engines are inextricably linked to quality of life, and transformational improvements in their operation can have a large, broad, positive impact on society. This project's new engines will continue to provide essential services, but in a way that reduces operating costs (creating savings that can be passed on to consumers) and emissions (further saving consumers money, and improving air quality in heavily-trafficked regions). These engines will fulfill a critical market need for clean, powerful engine solutions, and can be integrated into existing American-made engine product lines, increasing manufacturing revenue, stimulating job creation, and ensuring that the United States will remain a global leader heavy-duty engine production. This project will focus on enabling these clean, powerful engines by developing a novel, high-temperature combustion system that allows traditional engines to be adapted to burn alternative fuels in an efficient and soot-free manner. This requires integration of a unique combination of technologies, joined in a way that provides benefits far greater than those that can be achieved with the individual components in isolation. Removing any piece from this specific combination drastically reduces performance. Because each component plays a critical role, this project has high risk (as each subsystem must function properly), but its sophistication also presents a high barrier to similar efforts (since incorrect use of any component yields significantly worse results). This project will build on previous proof-of-concept data that verified the feasibility of this concept, and will focus on the development of key engine subsystems, seeking to mitigate risk enough that investment from the private sector is possible. At the end of the project, the subsystems will be integrated into a stationary power generator as a retrofit to an existing Diesel engine, adapting it for alternative fuel use. This would serve as a prototype platform for the technology?illustrating its increased efficiency and power, along with reduced emissions?and demonstrating the value of the technology to market incumbents, hopefully spurring a licensing arrangement for engine production.
Errata
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Codecraft Works, LLC
SBIR Phase I: A Co-creation, Cross-curricular, Standard Aligned Computer Science, Engineering, and Cybersecurity Education Technology Platform
Contact
407 Riverview Lane
Melbourne Beach, FL 32951–2716
NSF Award
1648069 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 10/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project provides student access to computer science curriculum and computational thinking skills to better prepare for college and the workforce. Unfortunately, no organized computer science curriculum is offered in majority of schools in the United States and only 1 out of 4 public high schools in the United States offer even one computer science class. Educators and administrators need new platforms of community and technical support to overcome these modern challenges and accomplish these critical goals. This project is aimed at the design and development of a web-based software platform to enable educators to confidently teach computer science, engineering, and cybersecurity education in classrooms and community centers. The resulting software platform would enable rapid growth of after-school clubs, camps, evening classes, in-school field trips, workshops, and educational gaming. This effort further democratizes the teaching of computer science and engineering concepts, thus addressing the talent gap that is leaving the United States behind in cybersecurity and in the world economy. This project has significant revenue and growth potential as it can be of service to approximately 3 million public school teachers and 50.1 million students who attended public elementary and secondary schools in 2015. This project will design and develop a web-based software platform to easily connect, attract, and foster the exchange, co-creation, and delivery of cross-curricular, educational computing literacy resources aligned with national and state educational standards. Analytics and metrics will be applied and developed to gain insight into the support needed for effective instruction. Instructors will be able to develop rich, dynamic, and engaging content, allowing secondary and elementary students to actively participate with the material and to assess their understanding. Students using the platform will also get access to expert mentors for debugging help, code review, and to ask questions. Educators will able to communicate best practices to ensure continuous access to high quality computer literacy resources. As a result, the platform provides superior pedagogy for secondary and elementary school students learning computer science, engineering, and cybersecurity. An initial alpha launch, a pilot study and analytical data gathering will be conducted throughout Phase 1 to study the efficacy of the proposed solution. The goal of this research is to verify the system features, the ease of use and to understand if Phase 1 activities result in a prototype that offers technical feasibility to solve the problem.
Errata
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Addenda
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Colytix, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Mobile Platform for Student Goal-Setting & Engagement
Contact
27791 Edgerton Rd
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022–3235
NSF Award
1646964 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,145
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This project will develop a platform that leverages Colytix? existing app and user base to create a transformative technology capable of addressing the massive gap in student retention among community college and part-time students. College education is seen as one of the primary drivers of economic success for US citizens and therefore directly impacts on the welfare of citizens and the health of the overall economy. Community colleges received significant attention in 2015 after President Barack Obama proposed to make community college tuition free to many residents of the US in his State of the Union Address. Once implemented, this plan would increase enrollment at community colleges dramatically, but would likely only exacerbate current poor graduation and retention rates if no changes to the status quo are implemented. This project will provide a key technology to help to realize these goals across the country. An innovative combination of technology, interaction design, and educational theory will be used to enable collaboration between students as well as their faculty and mentors. The ultimate goal of the project is to create an individualized platform that breaks each student?s long term goals down into manageable, short term, individualized targets while providing a community of other students and faculty to monitor progress, provide encouragement, and provide timely and appropriate interventions when necessary. This approach will address all of the key factors in low student retention and provide a clear pathway to success for each individual student. The initial focus of the project will be on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in community colleges, but the underlying principles of the platform can be applied to any discipline across any geography and/or institution.
Errata
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Concurrent Wireless Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Frequency-Translational Quadrature-Hybrid Transceivers for Small-Cell Wireless Infrastructure
Contact
11 Franklin Place
Summit, NJ 07901–3616
NSF Award
1647850 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$221,206
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 01/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to enable flexible carrier aggregation in mobile wireless networks using frequency-translational quadrature-hybrid (FTQH) technology. The customer demand for wireless connectivity keeps increasing both in terms of more connected devices and higher data rates. Carrier aggregation is a critical technology to further increase data rates for next-generation heterogeneous wireless networks. It lets mobile network operators and neutral hosts make more effective use of their fragmented spectral resources. Mobile communications are now an essential part of our personal and professional lives and impact all aspects of our society from business, to government, to education and the non-profit sector. The small business concern will generate OEM RF front-end products for the small-cell base station market which is growing rapidly with more than 10 million small-cell base station shipments estimated in 2020. This will strengthen the US commercial technology base and generate US employment opportunities as it grows its workforce. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of the FTQH technology. This technology promises to enable the design of modular, flexible RF front ends for small-cell base stations. FTQH is a novel architectural approach that leverages existing RF filtering, RF switching and RF routing technologies while enabling low cost, high performance, modular RF front ends for flexible carrier aggregation.
Errata
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Addenda
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CrossLife Technologies Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Rapid, instrument-free Nucleic Acid Test for Pathogens and Biothreats
Contact
3129 Tiger Run CT, #111
Carlsbad, CA 92010–6511
NSF Award
1720900 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,929
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will develop a prototype for a rapid and sensitive, point-of-care (POC) two-dimensional paper networks (2DPN) nucleic acid test for the detection of pathogens or biothreats. The proposed product is based on a disruptive platform technology called the Template Assisted Rapid Assay (TARA), which works directly on diverse biological samples without nucleic acid purification. TARA seamlessly integrates minimal sample preparation with target amplification and detection, which has been the greatest challenge in POC nucleic acid testing. The test eliminates the need for excess devices for sample collection, resource-intensive refrigerated storage and transport of samples, access to instrumentation and laboratory (with its overhead costs which are required for RT-qPCR, Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests that are the most commonly used tests for pathogen or biothreat detection currently. The company will show proof-of-concept of the device via the example of MERS-CoV detection. A microfluidic-based automated 2DPN TARA card can be applied broadly to applications for point-of-care or on-the-field nucleic acid detection of infectious agents or biothreats. The 2DPN TARA card provides the sample to answer, and easy to use, assay system.
Errata
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Culture Robotics, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Hardware and Software Systems for High Throughput, High Cell Density Fermentation
Contact
180 Steuart St #193554
San Francisco, CA 94105–9992
NSF Award
1722440 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a high throughput, imagery-based single cell analysis system. The system will be used to characterize high cell density polymicrobial samples captured during biological research. Initially, the technology will be applied to the problem of quantifying extremely low levels of microbial contamination in biological samples. The quantification and control of microbial contamination is an important challenge in industrial fermentation and in the manufacturing of biologics. Methods for rapid and sensitive detection of microbial contaminants do not exist. Traditional contamination detection methods involve time-consuming culturing of cells or manual and imprecise checks with a microscope. The proposed technology will provide automated and rapid sample characterization, allowing a speed of analysis that is 1000 times faster than current systems. This increased throughput will additionally allow lower levels of contamination to be quantified. While initially applied to research, the technology can also be used as an analytical and diagnostic tool in the medical field. For example, this analysis system could be used to search for malformed red blood cells in a human sample that might arise due to a disease like sickle cell anemia, or to determine the relative abundance and morphology of immune cells, an analysis that would help identify certain leukemias. This project will create a hardware platform and a parallelized computer vision system that is capable of fully characterizing each cell in a 1mL biological sample in under five minutes. To analyze samples taken from a fermentation process with high cell densities requires the micrography system to be capable of processing over one billion cells in the analysis window. The project aims to develop four subsystems: a high pressure microfluidic system for separating and isolating cells, an imaging system, a set of high throughput algorithms to classify the cellular imagery data and a horizontally-scalable computing platform on which to run the classifying code. The project will begin by developing a low throughput, fully functioning prototype. The efforts will then focus on developing the four primary subsystems in parallel, using knowledge gained in the prototyping efforts to guide the later work. Additional phases will focus on the integration of high throughput versions of the subsystems. The fully realized single cell micrography system will represent a leap forward in speed and specificity compared to traditional cytometry systems. With no manual intervention and in an open-ended, label-free manner, researchers will be able to conduct parts per billion-level inspection of a biological sample.
Errata
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CycloPure, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Porous Cyclodextrin Polymers: A Sustainable and Highly Effective Platform for Water Treatment
Contact
701 GardenView Ct.,Ste19
Encinitas, CA 92024–2464
NSF Award
1721809 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to remove organic pollutants using newly developed adsorbent materials derived from cyclodextrins. The chemical contamination of water resources due to agricultural, industrial, and human activities is known to have adverse effects on the environment, especially aquatic ecosystems, and human health. Currently utilized adsorbents, particularly activated carbons, typically have limitations in removing micropollutants effectively at environmentally relevant concentrations, ranging from parts per trillion (ppt) to parts per billion (ppb). This project will focus on the fundamental development and manufacture of polymer adsorbents from building blocks derived from corn starch that rapidly sequester many pollutants more effectively than activated carbons. These polymers exhibit tiny pores and high surface areas, and are structurally programmable to target specific contaminants and separation challenges. Current water filtration systems found in homes, hospitals, industrial settings, and municipal wastewater treatment sites will benefit from these activities. This SBIR Phase I project will develop a sustainable materials solution to address the problem of emerging organic contaminants in water. Promising materials are derived from a cyclodextrin monomer and a crosslinker, which react to provide a rigid porous network. Materials derived from this approach remove contaminants from water more effectively than leading adsorbents, such as activated carbons. Previously, initial polymers were prepared at laboratory scales in relatively low yields. The objective of this proposal is to develop polymerization conditions that provide high yields and are amenable to large-scale manufacturing processes, while maintaining the pollutant removal performance of the polymer. This objective will require a systematic study of reaction conditions to minimize side reactions and maximize polymerization efficiency. Structural characterization using various spectroscopies and porosimetry will be used to evaluate the polymerization process as a function of the reaction conditions. The polymer's ability to bind pollutants will also ensure that improved yields still maintain performance. Determining the optimal polymerization conditions and processing protocols will be critical for validating the technical feasibility of the proposed porous cyclodextrin polymer and will also be criteria for the success of this SBIR Phase I project.
Errata
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Data Security Technologies LLC
SBIR Phase I: PrivateMR: A Security, Privacy and Governance Policy Enforcement Framework for Big Data
Contact
PO Box 836088
Richardson, TX 75083–6088
NSF Award
1647681 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$223,238
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be the creation of a new tool that could prevent the loss of sensitive data stored in big data management systems due to various cyberattacks. Furthermore, the proposed tool can allow organizations to audit big data usage to prevent abuse and misuse of the stored data. The existence of such a novel tool may increase trust in these big data management systems, and protect the sensitive data stored in such systems against various outsider and insider attacks. The company believes that such a tool would address an important customer need and has the potential to have significant commercial impact as more and more companies are adopting big data management technologies such as Hadoop and Spark. The company plans to pursue a freemium business model and open source some of the developed code. This in turn may improve the data protection capabilities provided by existing freely available open source tools that can be used by many different companies and organizations. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will prove the feasibility of a novel big data privacy, security and governance management tool. This new tool will provide enhanced security and privacy protection capabilities such as enforcing privacy policies using on-the-fly data masking, enforcing security policies using role-based access control techniques, and enforcing governance policies using data encryption, and advanced auditing and accountability features in one tool without the need to modify/change the underlying big data management system. To successfully develop the proposed prototype, the company will address many technical challenges such as developing efficient privacy-preserving policy enforcement solutions with very little overhead, and designing an interactive user interface that supports easy governance and privacy policy specification tasks. To address these technical challenges, the company proposes to leverage recent advances in aspect oriented programming to inject code directly into submitted data analysis jobs in a seamless manner to enable transparent data encryption, data sanitization, and accountability, compliance and governance policy enforcement. Using this injected code, the data that is stored in encrypted format could be decrypted and sanitized before it is used for data analysis as needed. Furthermore, necessary logs could be generated for accountability purposes.
Errata
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Diesel Labs, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Diesel Labs: Leveraging social media analytics to solve for cross-channel media planning
Contact
17 St. Thomasmore Dr.
Winchester, MA 01890–2261
NSF Award
1621876 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,900
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to trigger a major shift toward mobile content across the marketing industry - broadening the market and generating larger economic impact. Massive amounts of media dollars are poised to shift toward mobile video, but will not flow freely until ads can be delivered on the right content (engaging and safe) to the right people (targeted consumer segments) at the right time (when consumers are actively engaged). This SBIR Phase I project will radically advance the scientific and technological understanding needed for marketers to deliver ads this way, thereby enabling them to build their brands with sight, sound, and motion content delivered surgically through the most personal and engaging channel available - mobile. With the project facilitating this transition: 1) brands will be able to advertise more efficiently across TV and mobile media; 2) content producers, now able to extract fair market value for their efforts, will be motivated to create more and better content; and 3) audiences will benefit from improved content quality, selection and accessibility. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is designed to enable brands and agencies to quickly and efficiently extend TV media plans into the rapidly growing mobile video space. While marketers have sophisticated TV planning tools at their disposal, they currently lack the ability to integrate TV/mobile video advertising in a way that optimizes their audience engagement and media spend. The research objective of this SBIR Phase I project is to develop social media-based recommendation technology to help marketers plan mobile video ad campaigns that seamlessly integrate with their traditional TV campaigns. The proposed project will 1) validate the technical and commercial feasibility of this approach and 2) produce an alpha version of the technology. Anticipated technical results include: building and testing a video content discovery engine; validating and implementing a planning system; initiating UI testing and user studies.
Errata
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Digital Dream Labs, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Three Dimensional Data Construction Platform Using Near Field Communications for Interaction With Engineering Game
Contact
100 S Commons
Pittsburgh, PA 15212–5406
NSF Award
1621536 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I Project explores the approach of teaching fundamental engineering concepts through engaging gameplay using a proprietary platform. The platform consists of tiles that can be put together in different ways in 3 dimensions, acting as an input to a game. The game is implemented on a paired device that can be on a tablet or a computer. The player will be presented increasingly difficult challenges and puzzles within game, and will have to use the physical tiles to assist in constructing the solution. The field of engineering exists in 3 dimensions, and the proposed project aims to explore building the intuition of this field within our youngest learners. The broader impact is in the vision for the platform to exist as a means to introduce different STEM topics in a fun and engaging manner, creating fond memories that could lead to more children with an interest in pursuing STEM related fields in the future. The project also has a mission to remain gender neutral in its design, so as to provide games that foster interest in both girls and boys. This SBIR Phase I Project will explore, through the use of near field communications, the extension of a proprietary platform that can read and construct data in 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions. There is a given theoretical limit to which near field communications are viable, and this project will explore optimizations and additions to the current proprietary solution to achieve a communications distance closer to the theoretical limit. The proprietary system is highly compact, and the project will be researching ways to prevent self interference while improving the range of the system. The main explorations include a look at optimizing off-the-shelf near field communications inlay designs, optimizing the current antenna design and network, and the potential addition of a signal amplifier to boost the range of the system.
Errata
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Dimensional Energy Inc.
STTR Phase I: HI-LIGHT - Solar Thermal Chemical Reactor Technology for Converting CO2 to Hydrocarbons
Contact
107 Penny Ln
Ithaca, NY 14850–6273
NSF Award
1720824 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/15/2017 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project relates to the fact that the extraction and consumption of fossil carbon accounts for over 6 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. While some mitigation approaches are fairly mature, like capturing CO2 for equestration or for enhanced oil recovery, they are very expensive in terms of both variable and capital costs and have little chance of ever providing a return on investment. By not viewing fossil fuels and feedstocks through a circular economy lens, we estimate these companies miss an opportunity for approximately $50 billion per year in potential profit from hydrocarbons, including methanol, that could be made with waste CO2. If successful, our HI-Light reactor will enable a new economy based on the conversion of fugitive CO2 into useful hydrocarbons and solve the return on investment problem. This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop HI-Light, a solar-thermocatalytic "reverse combustion" technology that enables the conversion of CO2 and water to methanol and other hydrocarbons at rate significantly greater than the state of the art. Previous approaches are limited by two roadblocks: (1) the semiconductor catalysts can only use photons with energies greater than their bandgap, which is a small fraction of those present in sunlight and (2) a large fraction of the catalyst material in these reactors is under-utilized due to sub-optimal light and reactant delivery. Our unique reactor uses a patented, multiscale approach to enhance light and reagent transport directly to the reaction site and makes use of traditionally unused photons to provide heat and enhance reaction efficiency. The unique features of our reactor are (1) optimized light delivery to ensure that all of the catalyst material has enough light to activate the reaction and (2) an advanced nano-engineered photocatalyst which is functionalized with ligands to enhance CO2 capture and conversion. The goal of this Phase I effort is to construct an integrated prototype reactor and evaluate its productivity in terms of the grams of hydrocarbon produced per gram of catalyst per hour and demonstrate a 10x improvement over the state of the art.
Errata
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DuKorp Corp
SBIR Phase I: Mapping Human Signals with Multimer and MindRider
Contact
85 2nd Place
Brooklyn,, NY 11231–4111
NSF Award
1721679 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project includes high quality data that indicates a population?s sense of well-being and environmental safety--two essential factors in the effort for long-term sustainability. MindRider and Multimer collect and analyze human signals at the neighborhood, town, city, and regional scale, thus providing proactive, standardized, geospatial, real-time information to improve both personal mobility and urban monitoring. MindRider and Multimer can help overcome limitations in two prevalent monitoring methods: 1) A reactive methodology for quantifying danger is to count accidents. While government-collected accident data is often reliable and includes many years' worth of information, it does not provide precise spatial details such as direction of movement. Most importantly, an injury or fatality must occur before a statistic is produced, which therefore misses all the non-reported minor injuries, as well as perceptions of danger. 2) Many researchers use qualitative instruments like surveys and interviews to study perceptions of safety without the occurrence of an accident But while qualitative methods are highly valuable, these methods cannot be deployed continuously, are often not geospatial, and their results may not be standardized. The proposed project addresses the challenges that stakeholders like transportation planners and real estate analysts encounter as they monitor rapid change in cities and towns. For these stakeholders, improved data helps to reduce the complexity, cost, and risk of site selection decisions like choosing the location for a store, transit hub, outdoor advertisement, home, or office. Existing location analysis tools show similar kinds of evaluations for very different neighborhoods, based on limited data that doesn't often change. MindRider, which pairs custom ergonomic biosensors with GPS-enabled smartphones to record EEG and location data, and Multimer, which categorizes and analyzes MindRider data against existing geographic inputs, has the potential to provide key insights for data-driven decision making. We have built the basic system to collect and analyze geolocated biosensor data and have proven the technical feasibility of collecting these data from a pilot sample population for an extended period of time. Our primary objective for Phase I is to improve our data modeling and analysis--with a focus on affective interpretation, biosensor comparison, geospatial and temporal statistics, and reproducibility--so as to offer a fully robust product that stakeholders will confidently integrate into their existing workflows.
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Dynalene Inc.
STTR Phase I: Corrosion Inhibition of Stainless Steel Alloys in High Temperature Chloride Salts for Concentrated Solar Power Applications
Contact
5250 West Coplay Road
Whitehall, PA 18052–2212
NSF Award
1622917 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is through the development of cost effective, high temperature molten salt heat transfer fluids for concentrated solar power plants that would make solar power an economical and viable source of renewable energy for mass consumption. With the worldwide growing need for energy, alternative sources of energy have been the primary focus of research over the past few decades. Molten salt heat transfer fluid used in concentrated solar power plants are one sub-area of such research. Molten salts have excellent stability at high temperature (>650C) and can be mined and easily manufactured into solar heat transfer fluids at a reasonable cost. Additionally, the developed molten salt heat transfer fluid would increase the efficiency of energy generation in solar power plants and provide potential cost savings by utilizing ubiquitous economical metals such as stainless steel. The heat transfer fluid could potentially bring the subsidy-free installed system price at the utility scale to a competitive price of 5-6 cents per kilowatt-hour. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to (i) develop a fundamental understanding of interfacial corrosion of 316L stainless steel in molten chloride salt compositions and (ii) inhibit this corrosion by utilizing suitable additives. It is known that chloride salts could potentially increase the operating temperatures (to 900 Celcius) and hence enhance the energy efficiency of solar power plants. However, the extreme corrosive behavior of molten chlorides towards the stainless steel pipes utilized in solar plants has prevented their usage for practical applications. With the fundamental corrosion insight gained through this research project, Dynalene intends to develop proprietary inhibitor compositions that can be added to the chloride salt in-situ during the operation of a solar power plant. These additives would minimize corrosion by forming a continuous and inert ceramic layer at the operating temperature on the stainless steel surface, and simultaneo usly strengthen the grain boundaries. Dynalene had some initial success in growing a few micron-thick inert, continuous ceramic layer on a stainless steel surface. In this project, Dynalene will develop a corrosion package that would reduce dechromatization in steel and restrict the corrosion rate of 316L stainless steel to 10 micro-meters/year
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Dynation L. L. C.
SBIR Phase I: Lipoleosomes as Carriers for Topical Ibuprofen
Contact
1202 Cherokee Ave.
Saint Paul, MN 55118–2004
NSF Award
1647292 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project addresses a critical need in medicine ? the ability to deliver drugs selectively to parts of the body that need medication. Targeted drug delivery improves patient outcomes by treating tissues locally while reducing overall exposure and side effects elsewhere. For example, a cream or lotion type product which moves anti-inflammatory drugs through skin specifically to an affected joint is better than taking a pill which medicates the entire body. Nanoparticles, especially liposomes (nanometer size water balloons consisting of a fatty wall surrounding an aqueous interior) are useful for targeted drug delivery because of their ability to move through biological barriers including skin. Unfortunately, use of liposomes is limited because the drug carrying capacity is too small, especially for water insoluble drugs. Lipoleosomes are a new type of liposome with a much greater carrying capacity for drugs. The objective of this project is to make lipoleosomes with ibuprofen, a water-insoluble drug and demonstrate the ability to move ibuprofen through skin for localized treatment of joints and muscles. This will be valuable for developing a lotion product to treat arthritis and injuries while avoiding stomach problems. The creation of lipoleosomes resulted from a remarkable discovery ? that under certain conditions, flat fatty layers (lipid bilayers) existing in microemulsions can be reshaped by hydration into spherical liposome form. Because microemulsion lipid bilayers can contain large amounts of water-insoluble (hydrophobic) compounds (easily up to 65%), so can the product liposomes. Previously, hydrophobic drug content of liposomes rarely exceeded 5%. In light of the extraordinarily greater drug capacity, the new liposomes were named lipoleosomes, indicating a liposome into which organic compounds (oleo) have been inserted. It is a scientific curiosity that some microemulsion lipid layers reshape to give membrane structures because in the past, hydration had only been known to give filled emulsion droplets which do not have the important biological features of liposomes. In this project, the quality and yield of lipoleosomes and their biological characteristics will be improved by understanding the influence of precursor microemulsion properties and processing conditions. This will result in the availability of new, biologically effective lipoleosomal ibuprofen compositions and methods of synthesis, plus physical and biometric data that supports submission of a new drug application for a topical ibuprofen lotion or cream. Establishing lipoleosomes as a new type of nanoparticle has implications for many other drugs and for routes of administration other than dermal.
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ENGINEERED MARINE COATINGS, INC.
STTR Phase I: Marine Antifouling Deterrent Coatings for Quantum Paints
Contact
2805 Penders Blvd
Mount Pleasant, SC 29466–8608
NSF Award
1721932 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop an environmentally benign yet highly effective marine antifouling coating for the American yacht market. The coating is a non-biocidal, foul release surface which does not require the vessel to move to obtain antifouling protection. It is a non-ablative multi-modal coating that will deter settling marine larvae when the vessel is stationary and will eliminate any attached marine organisms, such as barnacles through self-cleaning (e.g. fouling release) while underway. The commercial impact of the innovation will be in reducing consumption of non-renewable resources through increased fuel efficiency and possible expansion into additional markets. Such additional markets would include those for commercial vessels, Navy vessels, bridges, windmills, etc., while successfully reducing harmful chemicals in the marine environment. The market for these coatings is expected to double in the next four years, currently being at $10.2 billion. The findings from this development work will also be incorporated into research based educational programs. The intellectual merit of this project is the development of a promising synthetic conopeptide analog to the noradrenaline (NA) molecule. Prior art has shown that NA, when bound to a surface (or included as part of a coating covering a surface), deters fouling marine invertebrates from settling, thus preventing biofouling. Another distinct advantage of using conopeptide based systems is their stability in the marine environment. The current efforts are focused upon improving the efficacy and antifouling performance of these molecules. The phase I research objectives are (1) conjugation of the bioactive conopeptide additive to the current foul release coating; (2) demonstration of antifouling efficacy and proof of concept by bioassay; (3) development of batch coatings for scale-up for marine field tests. The results will be useful for designing new test coatings for scale up and testing in the marine environment.
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EPIImaging, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Fingertip Ranging with Micro Light-Field Cameras
Contact
414 Paco Drive
Los Altos, CA 94024–3827
NSF Award
1648388 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,900
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project lies in its provision of a novel ranging capability whose quality, ease of placement, and scale in deployment will introduce new opportunities in robot operation in situations where there is uncertainty in the relative positions of parts and robots. These include small-batch production (where fixturing cannot be made cost effective), inspection and repair in confined spaces (where 3D sensing must be carried aboard the actuator), hazardous situations (where human presence incurs risk to life), and collaborative interaction with people (where inadvertent contact must be avoided). In the proposed development, robot grasp will be empowered with dynamic 3D range mapping at each fingertip, enabling direct computation of trajectories and velocities tailored to the geometry and structure about to be manipulated. Extension of the technology to the larger challenge of 3D vision and object modeling offers economic impact in diverse applications. These include autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle navigation (drones, cars), virtual reality and augmented reality interfaces, 3D teleconferencing and communication, cultural site modeling, and immersive cinema. Each is an area where increases in reliability and precision with decreases in power and computational cost can bring an application over the threshold in price/performance, into viability. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will establish a new level of real-time passive visual perception in near-range for robot operation, providing 3D data for accurate, precise and rapid grasp. Binocular imaging systems have not demonstrated success in near range robotics due to the inability of their match-based methods to deliver reliable depth measures in complex settings where disparity range is large. Current methods using a few cameras are based on matching so make mistakes, use search that is exponential in covered range so are expensive, and deliver parsimonious descriptions of the world (point clouds) so are weak in descriptive power. All of these diminish the reliability of their processing and the utility of their analysis in real-world applications. The technology of this project combined with recent wafer-level integration module packages overcomes these limitations through use of dense sampling, extended baselines, and maintaining and exploiting image spatial continuity. The technical challenge involves mechanical and electrical design to enable micro light-field ranging with analysis on an embedded processor, near-field calibration of imagers/optics/system, and coordination of these with robot control for assessing measurement accuracy and precision. The project will result in high-quality frame-rate light-field ranging on a robot fingertip.
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ESal
STTR Phase I: Novel Water Flooding Technique to Enhance Oil Recovery
Contact
1938 Harney St Ste 216
Laramie, WY 82072–5388
NSF Award
1721290 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,740
Start / end date
06/15/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this STTR Phase I project is to develop a new water flood technology to increase oil recovery. The best current technology is limited to 30 - 50% recovery leaving significant resources in the ground. The available methods to further increase recovery are expensive, have limited application and can cause environmental damage. The proposed method is much lower cost and has minimal environmental impact. Our technique does not use chemicals or additives thus avoiding the risk of contaminating ground and surface water resources. Rather than drill thousands of new wells, our approach revitalizes old fields and requires little modification to the existing infrastructure and operational procedures. It would allow older fields to continue to operate, providing revenues, jobs and taxes while increasing and further diversifying our domestic oil reserves. Development of these currently unrecoverable oil resources could enable long-term stabilization of oil prices at reasonable levels and offer new business opportunities for small operators. This STTR Phase I project proposes to measure the wettability in several petroleum reservoirs and to determine the equilibrium constants required to better describe the interaction between mineral surfaces and surface-active components of crude oil. These constants will be added to a geochemical model to evaluate the capability of the models to predict wettability. Wettability in petroleum reservoirs is poorly constrained, and current formulations that depend on interfacial energy cannot accurately portray the observations and offer little predictive capability. The current wettability measurement methodologies rely on flow properties to infer interfacial energy because it is difficult to directly measure the interfacial energy between rock and oil. Using a geochemical approach, we can explicitly represent the electrostatic and van der Waals force that make up the interfacial energy. This approach will produce quantitative formulations of wettability that can be implemented in standard geochemical models. Our goals are to demonstrate that we can measure the important reactions using standard chemical methodologies, that these measurements can be used in geochemical models to calculate wettability and that the models can be used to predict wettability as a function of water chemistry, for enabling techniques for more effective water flooding and enhanced oil recovery.
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Electronic Bio Sciences
STTR Phase I: Multipass Sensing for Ultrahigh Resolution Particle Characterization
Contact
5754 Pacific Ctr Blvd Ste 204
San Diego, CA 92121–4206
NSF Award
1648790 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will generate a new nanoparticle characterization system with the ability to assess the size, length-to-width ratio, zeta potential, and concentration of solution-based nanoparticle (or molecular) samples with state-of-the-art accuracy, precision, and resolution, all on a single platform. The primary need for new nanoparticle characterization instrumentation is driven by the increasing utility and benefit of nanoparticles in healthcare and medicine, including nanoparticle drug delivery, nanoscale particle/molecule drugs and therapies, and nanoparticle-based imaging and diagnostics agents. The prototype system developed under this program will be targeted toward the general nanoparticle characterization market, presently estimated at ~$500M, which includes applications in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, nanoparticle manufacturing, R&D, and academic research. The developed system will not only improve solution-based nanoparticle characterization, but streamline characterization processes and provide new insights with regard to sample characterization, optimization, and utilization within the nanoparticle field. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the development of a completely new and innovative particle characterization system for which there is no equivalent, capable of automated, high-resolution, solution-based particle assessments at the single-molecule level. The developed system will enable the ability to quickly characterize a large number (hundreds to thousands) of particles/molecules in solution in order to assess the distribution within the sample. These goals will be reached by developing, building, and validating a complete and fully functioning alpha-prototype system and then demonstrating the functionality and utility of the new system by characterizing solution-based particle- and molecule-containing samples that otherwise cannot be characterized with high resolution. Upon completing this program, an entirely new nanoparticle characterization instrument will be developed and validated that is ready for initial introductions into the nanoparticle field via industrial and academic communities.
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Elektrofi Inc
SBIR Phase I: Novel Formulation for the Delivery of High Concentration Protein Therapeutics
Contact
One Kendall Sq
Cambridge, MA 02139–1571
NSF Award
1722066 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,923
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project aims to significantly improve the patient experience by providing easy, convenient, and fast delivery of protein therapeutics through the administration of high-concentration, low-viscosity solutions via subcutaneous injection. Currently, high-concentration antibody solutions have viscosities far above the recommended limit for subcutaneous injections. This project aims to drastically lower the viscosities of high-concentration protein formulations. The success of this project would greatly benefit patients by providing a much shorter administration time for drugs that now require hours of intravenous infusion. In addition, this solution can also improve therapies that are already administered subcutaneously by reducing the frequency of injections by increasing dosage. Development of this technology can also enable the development of protein therapeutics with promising efficacy, but intractable solution properties or commercially unattractive patent lives. The goal of this Phase I project is to establish the proof-of-concept data supporting the viability of a new formulation platform for proteins. This platform will generate a formulation containing high concentrations of protein therapeutics which may be delivered at substantially lowered viscosities due to a reduction in the intermolecular interactions among proteins. The formulation thus provides a subcutaneous syringe-compatible route to delivering biologics at high-concentration, and low-viscosity, ultimately driving a shift from timely intravenous delivery protocols to simplified subcutaneous injections. Constraints on subcutaneous delivery volume (<2 mL) necessitate antibody concentrations much greater than 100 mg/mL. Unfortunately, viscosities far beyond the accepted injection limit (50 cP) are typical of this situation due to extensive interaction among the protein molecules. Current viscosity reduction methods attempt to regulate these interactions but have yet to substantially address the issue. The proposed work utilizes a novel process to gently formulate proteins using only FDA-approved materials. This approach eliminates the effect of the protein-protein interactions on the solution viscosity. The proposed project will involve development of the platform through (i) identification of optimal formulation parameters, (ii) demonstration of rheological improvements to high-concentration protein solutions, and (iii) demonstration of preservation of biological structure and activity.
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Elloveo, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Interactive, Combined Circuit & 2D Field Simulator for Educational Mobile Game
Contact
362 E 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012–4203
NSF Award
1721410 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This project entails the build out of the simulation engine for a touch-based, mobile game designed to intuitively teach the basics of electricity and magnetism to children aged 5+. The mobile game gives users a picture of what?s happening inside a circuit, and allows them to play with the charges, electric and magnetic forces, voltage, capacitors, transistors, etc. The use of funds from this NSF SBIR Grant would include the research and development required to build and incorporate this simulator into the game. This simulator is novel, is customized for educational use, must be extraordinarily fast, and is based on Maxwell?s Equations, the four equations that govern all of electricity and magnetism. The successful completion of this project will create a new way of teaching electricity and magnetism to children, giving them a visual understanding of the concepts. The goal is to make science and engineering more attainable subjects to pursue in higher education. This will lead to an increase in the number of science and engineering graduates in the US, and help to close the international educational achievement gap, which experts agree represents over a $1T overall opportunity loss. Besides having a profound effect on the US economy, this also benefits the individual. In 2014, the DOE reported that the median starting income of a STEM (engineering) graduate was $74,000, almost $25,000 more than a non-STEM graduate. The proposed real-time, interactive, multi-touch-based simulator would be the first of its kind; no combined two-dimensional field and circuit simulator exists today, particularly for use in an educational game. This combined simulator only has 16 milliseconds to update its results, whereas a typical two-dimensional field solver could take minutes to hours to solve. By using a novel simulator architecture and by focusing on speed and conceptual understanding at the necessary precision, the game simulator will be able to achieve the over 100x speed-up required. The simulator needs to solve Maxwell?s equations and thus calculate and display the electromagnetic physics behavior at 60 frames per second, the rate required for interactive gaming. Several approaches are used to accomplish this. This simulator is built from the ground up, with a unique choice of variables that prioritizes qualitative understanding over the circuit size and accuracy requirements of an industrial simulator. The simulator focuses on components and circuits commonly used in teaching. The simulator also utilizes the combined central/graphics processing hardware available in modern mobile devices. With this simulator as the core gaming engine, the company is building a game where children as young as five can experiment with and intuitively understand the basics of electricity, magnetism, and circuits.
Errata
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Emissol LLC
STTR Phase I: Novel Urea Mixer to Enable Low Temperature Reduction of Diesel Exhaust Nitrogen Compounds Emissions.
Contact
16300 Mill Creek Blvd. Ste 208-F
Mill Creek, WA 98012–1279
NSF Award
1648964 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$223,273
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is opening a new, low-temperature range of Diesel emission control currently unavailable, while providing further flexibility in Diesel vehicle performance significant for commercial vehicles particularly those in stop-and-go operations (city-type duty cycles). Its environmental and societal impacts consist of markedly-reduced Diesel emissions and greenhouse gases, emission control system downsizing and cost savings, reduced warranty costs to Diesel vehicle manufacturers and reduced Diesel fuel use. Impacts further include reduced emission of respiratory irritants from and increased fuel economy in Diesel vehicles. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are proof of concept, computer simulation of the underlying complex thermo-chemistry mechanisms and prototyping. The innovation potentially resolves a major obstacle in reducing oxides of nitrogen in very low temperature Diesel exhaust, where traditionally injection of Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF; urea water solution) has not been feasible due to risks of urea crystallization; crystallization itself has been a major warranty challenge in the Diesel vehicle industry particularly in heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses operating in city-mode driving conditions. It is anticipated that the proposed novel mixer will minimize urea crystallization risks, accelerate rates of thermolysis and hydrolysis reactions in the Diesel exhaust and enable the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalyst reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) at temperatures well below the current limit of 200 °C. By removing these barriers, the technology developed in this project will enable low temperature reduction of Diesel exhaust NOx, known to both harm human health and increase greenhouse gases. The proposed innovation will likely also provide economic value consisting of vehicle component cost savings, major warranty cost reduction and reduced fuel consumption.
Errata
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Emoters, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Design, deployment, and algorithmic optimization of zoomorphic, interactive robot companions
Contact
1701 Maple Ave
Austin, TX 78702–1433
NSF Award
1648466 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project spans the near-term and many years of future development. Over both phases, this proposal covers research and development (R&D) to create a robot pet companions with the potential to sell millions of units in the U.S. toy industry. The proposal also supports the development of R&D infrastructure that will be a critical component of the expansion in subsequent years to the U.S. pet industry (as a robot companion), which is larger and has less direct competition for robotic entrants. The first-generation robot product, a result of the Phase I project, will support science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and robot hobbyists of all ages by facilitating user-friendly modification of its hardware and software as well as the creation of users? own robots and behavioral programs. Given the interactive nature of these modifiable robots, they are likely to have a strong appeal to females, who are underrepresented in STEM fields. The project?s ultimate goal is to develop and market interactive robots that can improve the quality of life for anyone through companionship. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to develop first-generation robot pets that will be ready to place in thousands of customers? hands and to situate the awarded company to grow to deliver millions of sophisticated robot pets across the world, including to the many people who cannot have pets. Towards these outcomes, the following innovations will be pursued in Phase I: a puppeteer platform that wirelessly controls robot characters; specification of a mobile, social robot character through machine learning; perception of robots and their environment; reliable autonomous recharging; and a simple cloud-based infrastructure for gathering usage data and conducting field experiments on versions of robot characters.
Errata
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Endeavor Power Technologies Llc
STTR Phase I: A Fast and Efficient Power System Dynamic Simulator
Contact
106490hillrose ave
Baton Rouge, LA 70810–7734
NSF Award
1622877 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,993
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project includes a significant impact on the electric power contingency analysis conducted by industries around the globe. The proposed algorithm can be used by power system planning units, operators, utility companies, universities, and research centers and provides designers, engineers, and scientists with the opportunity of a considerable reduction in computation efforts in performing power grid dynamic simulations, especially in the grids with high penetration of renewable and small-scale generators. It allows conducting more studies in shorter time and leads to significant personnel and equipment cost reduction. In addition, the proposed algorithm is a significant step forward towards realizing a real-time power system analyzer, which can be used to alleviate the adverse effects of faults and disturbances in small and large electric power systems. Thus, the proposed algorithm potentially helps enhance modern power system reliability and resiliency by providing a fast and accurate analysis of the system under various possible contingencies. As the power grid is one of the most important and fundamental infrastructures in each society, the proposed project will directly enhance social welfare. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop a software program for dynamic analysis of power grids. In electric power industries, grid simulators are vital tools to evaluate and analyze dynamic behavior of the grid. Power grids are large-scale networks that are mathematically modeled by thousands of variables and equations. Analysis of such a large number of variables and equations is very time-consuming. Integration of intermittent renewable energy resources as well as small-scale low-inertia generators to modern power grids make the network analysis even more challenging. In the proposed algorithm (to become a software program) a novel mathematical solver is proposed that significantly reduces the computations required to solve the well-known differential-algebraic equations describing power systems. The proposed algorithm contributes to the reduction of the size of the Jacobian matrix and removal of the error loop in the power grid dynamic simulations. These improvements significantly increase the speed of the proposed software program in analyzing dynamic behavior of power grids when compared to the available methods. Preliminary studies show that the proposed power grid simulator can perform at least 30 times faster than the standard Newton-Raphson algorithm when simulating large grids with significant number of generators.
Errata
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Enevolv, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Programmable Intracellular Sensors for Direct In Vivo Screening of Target Molecule Production in Yeast
Contact
83 Cambridge Parkway W806
Cambridge, MA 02142–1241
NSF Award
1648176 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to develop a tool to allow for more rapid screening of engineered yeast strains for the production of desirable biochemical compounds. Industries such as specialty chemicals, food, energy, personal care, and pharmaceuticals are increasingly using engineered microorganisms, especially yeast, for biochemical production. A key challenge in strain engineering is screening. In order to find the optimal genetic changes that direct a strain to produce the target molecule efficiently, companies have to build and screen large numbers of strains. Current best practices using automation allow companies to screen strains at a cost of approximately $1-5 per strain with a throughput of hundreds to a thousand strains per day. The proposed yeast sensors enable ultra high-throughput screening of yeast strains, allowing the measurement of tens of millions of strains per day at a cost below $0.00002 per strain. This technology will not only substantially improve the economics and success rate of strain engineering projects, but it will allow the exploration of much more complex design spaces and enable otherwise intractable projects. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to create a platform for the rapid engineering of designer biosensors in yeast that are capable of sensing and responding to any desired molecule. Cells have evolved a large number of sensory proteins that allow them to dynamically interact with their environment. The proposed technology is to re-engineer these natural biosensors to sense and respond to chemicals of commercial or scientific interest. The proposed approach computationally models the interaction of each sensor and target molecule, predicting protein mutations that improve binding to the desired molecule. It is possible to then rapidly construct and test vast numbers of these predicted sensors, identifying those with the requisite sensing and response characteristics in yeast. The resulting sensors will allow the rapid engineering of yeast strains by altering yeast cell behavior in response to the target chemical, making them powerful tools that have broad applications in strain engineering, diagnostics, and synthetic biology.
Errata
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Exhalix, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Noninvasive Sensor for Remote Monitoring of Peripheral Artery Disease
Contact
580 Superstition Dr. SE
Rio Rancho, NM 87124–2281
NSF Award
1620855 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$269,999
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 10/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovations Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the potential to overcome some of the current lack of similar devices for screening and monitoring of PAD and will allow greater access at lower cost for current and future patients suffering from PAD. Today, hospitalization costs for diagnosis and treatment of PAD patients exceed $10,000 per patient for 8 to 10 million Americans suffering from lower-extremity PAD. The current options for PAD diagnosis are too expensive and impractical to monitor or diagnose the condition in its early stages before it is too late to initiate therapy to reverse or slow progress. Regular screening as well as monitoring of PAD after an initial diagnosis by medical professionals has the potential to significantly reduce the current cost of managing PAD patients, including prevention of many of the 150,000 ischemic amputations performed annually in the US through early intervention. The proposed project addresses the need for a more practical, accessible, user-friendly, and inexpensive technique, for monitoring PAD. The proposed our transdermal gasotransmitter sensor employs an innovative, patented gas-phase detector to non-invasively provide real-time measure of the target molecule. It is anticipated that this approach would provide accurate, cost-effective monitoring of onset and severity through monitoring plasma H2S levels, which could also enable subsequent therapeutic measures in real-time. During this Phase I study, a prototype of a TGS module will be developed and its performance will be demonstrated. Prior data and results will be utilized to design and develop a breadboard prototype for remote gasotransmitter monitoring. Key technical challenges of developing a disposable sensor will be addressed, including size, cost, and ease of use. Feasibility will be tested under simulated laboratory conditions with membranes and animal skin. Furthermore, the breadboard prototype will be implemented in ongoing studies on healthy and diabetic rats. Building on Phase I findings, more advanced prototype development and further testing is planned for Phase II efforts.
Errata
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FAS HOLDINGS GROUP
SBIR Phase I: Scalable fabrication of stable perovskite solar panels using slot-die coating technique
Contact
10480 MARKISON RD
Dallas, TX 75238–1650
NSF Award
1721884 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to revolutionize the US solar cell market with low-cost and high-efficiency solar cells. The development of cost-effective and efficient solar power technologies is of national interest because solar power has broad potential to support US priorities such as economic growth and job creation, as well as mitigation of climate change. However, the cost of solar energy is still high, and technological innovations are needed to further lower costs and increase efficiency. The efficiency of perovskite solar cells has surged to over 22% in five years of research and now rivals that of CdTe and Si-based solar panels. Perovskite inks are made from Earth-abundant, inexpensive precursors and can be printed on plastic foils, which can significantly reduce their manufacturing and installation costs. However, before commercialization of this technology can be considered, device stability and the feasibility of reliable, scalable manufacturing of large-area panels have to be established. This project will bridge this critical knowledge gap and develop manufacturing technology that can compete in terms of cost and performance not only with other solar panels but also with conventional fossil fuel-based energy sources. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop scalable, reliable, reproducible, and cost-effective technology to manufacture perovskite photovoltaic devices using an industry-proven slot die coating technique. Most research lab perovskite solar cell devices are fabricated via spin casting, and have a device area of less 1 sq. cm. Despite the impressive progress of this technology, its commercially viable scalability and reliability have not yet been demonstrated. In this project, slot-die coating will be used, which is a proven technology to be scalable for large area processing and robust for high-yield manufacturing in a wide range of applications. We will use the slot die coating method and air stable p-i-n devices architecture to manufacture perovskite solar panel with a target power conversion efficiency of 20%, operational lifetime of more than 10,000 hours, power-to-weight ratio of 1 kW/kg, and target manufacturing cost of less than $0.3/W, which is more than a 40% reduction in costs when compared to industry leading photovoltaic technologies.
Errata
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FAST Ceramics LLC
SBIR Phase I: Improving Surface Properties of Stainless Steel for Li-ion Battery Current Collectors
Contact
3550 Frontier Ave
Boulder, CO 80301–2430
NSF Award
1647045 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$220,014
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project intends to improve upon the surface characteristics of stainless steel in demanding environments. Particularly, it may constitute a significant improvement in the field of Li-ion battery current collectors. Today, current collector metal corrodes during repeated cycling leading to diminished capacity and potential safety issues related to cell polarization and over-potentials. This project will incorporate recent advances in nanomaterials and surface metrology into an engineering material with significant improvement in performance. The intellectual merit of this project lies in using a surface treatment to stainless steel that further modifies the oxide layer in terms of inertness, hydrophobicity, and corrosion resistance. This surface treatment is achieved by acid etching the steel surface after electropolishing in a manner similar to the industrially important pickling process. The resulting passive film will be characterized and prototype surface treated parts will be evaluated as current collectors for Li-ion batteries. These current collectors will not only improve corrosion resistance (and therefore cycling stability and cell safety), but will also allow use of a wider range of electrolytes than currently possible. Additionally, the project can lead to other applications where high performance stainless steel surfaces can be utilized.
Errata
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Addenda
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FLORA COATINGS LLC
SBIR Phase I: Transparent Flexible Quasi-Ceramic Intelligent Multifunctional Coatings for Corrosion and Biofouling Protection
Contact
275 N Gateway Dr CEI Ste 137
Phoenix, AZ 85034–0000
NSF Award
1721411 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,901
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase-I project employs the development of intelligent and sustainable coating technology to present a game changing option to the corrosion protection coating industry. The annual global cost of corrosion is estimated to be US$2.5 trillion while USA alone has to lose more than $1 trillion. The global anticorrosion coating market has been valued for more than US$14 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach beyond US$26 billion in 2022. Apart from inferior performance, currently available corrosion prevention coatings pose significant threat to the environment and human health. It is very hard for the poor and developing countries to bear the related costs. Development of this multifunctional coating will afford them a safer alternative for protecting their assets. In preliminary experiments, this coating innovation has shown significant potential in preventing corrosion and biofouling activity on the treated surface. The thermal analysis and nanomechanical analysis have indicated that these coatings have exceptionally high thermal and mechanical stability approaching that of ceramic materials. Based on the preliminary data, it is safe to state that these coatings present a breakthrough in the area of surface protection through barrier coatings. The intellectual merit of this project includes the development of user friendly multifunctional coating for wide variety of substrates. Historically, chromate conversion coatings (CCC) have been extensively used in preventing metals from corroding. However, there are serious concerns over the use of CCC as it poses human health risks. Carcinogenic hexavalent chromium ions used in coating technology for the corrosion protection of metals are being phased out by Environmental Protection Agency in USA and Registration Evaluation Authorization and Restrictions of Chemicals regulation in Europe. The key innovation of this project is the development of a liquid precursor to a transparent strong ceramic-like coating that can protect substrates from harsh environmental conditions. This ready to use thin coating, suitable for application in the automobile and aerospace industries, adheres strongly to most substrates, adds minimal weight and can be transparent or pigmented. Besides corrosion protection, the coating can also provide scratch resistance, oleophobicity, and possibly anti-microbial properties to numerous surfaces.
Errata
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Fact Labs Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Scalable Collaborative Analytical Modeling
Contact
1864 15th St Unit 204
San Francisco, CA 94103–2252
NSF Award
1722412 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to enable organizations - whether businesses, governments, or non-profits - to make more informed, more data-driven decisions. All organizations must decide how to allocate limited resources and do so in the context of meeting a set of objectives, such as profit, social wellbeing, or health. Modeling as a process and models as artifacts of that process allow decision makers to understand data through the lens of objectives to then make decisions; data alone, no matter how much, cannot make decisions. As more aspects of the world are instrumented and captured digitally, the breadth and quantity of data will out of necessity require more modeling to be codified and bring more stakeholders into the fold. Organizations need a modeling workflow and supporting tools that are capable of handling this wider range of data, are fully accessible to non-technical users, and allow more stakeholders to participate in this important process. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the challenge of many users collaboratively building and maintaining analytical models that are consistent and reproducible while allowing for divergent and convergent change. On one end, spreadsheets serve as a general-purpose, ad hoc modeling tool that is open-ended and accessible for many, and on the other, whole software applications whether packaged or custom developed are generally more powerful in important ways but usually sacrifice accessibility and generalizability. This project will produce a prototype of a collaborative integrated development environment for modeling that manages code and data. The technical feasibility of this prototype will be evaluated by developing a test framework that simulates the divergence and convergence of models and scores the outcomes. The commercial feasibility will be evaluated by testing with users building real models to understand the scope of functionality required to bring this to market.
Errata
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Farm Vision Technologies Inc
SBIR Phase I: Apple Yield Mapping using Computer Vision
Contact
287 Wilder St N
Saint Paul, MN 55104–5127
NSF Award
1722310 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the practical deployment of a computer-vision based yield estimation system in fruit orchards. This will provide fruit farmers with a useful tool in planning their harvest and sales, as well as in managing the long-term health of their plants. This will potentially reduce the inherent risk in fruit growing, thereby improving the affordability and availability of fresh fruit in the US. Better certainty may particularly help small growers, because they have less existing capability to manage risk. Furthermore, by allowing adoption of precision agriculture techniques techniques to high value crops, this project may help save water and contribute to reduction of runoff pollution from fertilizer and chemicals. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the problem of vision-based fruit detection and mapping of fruit, for purposes of yield mapping. The research objectives are to improve the commercial usability and robustness of existing yield-mapping approaches, so that they can be applied in production fruit orchards. The anticipated technical results of this project include demonstration of useful yield mapping of apples, in a variety of real world production orchard environments, in a variety of weather and lighting conditions.
Errata
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Feasible, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Electrochemical Acoustic Tools for the Analysis of Batteries
Contact
66 Patton Ave.
Princeton, NJ 08540–5252
NSF Award
1621926 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,988
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 01/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project lies in the ability of this technology to impact how every battery is made, tested, managed, and re-used in the near future. Batteries are ubiquitous, and their use is likely to increase in the future. As such, there is a growing need for low-cost, accurate methods for monitoring the state of charge (SOC) and the state of health (SOH) in real time to optimize performance and maximize lifetime. The technology that will be developed in this project will use ultrasound to noninvasively probe batteries and provide physical insights into SOC and SOH, and will work on any closed battery regardless of chemistry and form factor. Initial finding of this hypothesis have already been demonstrated and published. This is an unexplored area and presents a large commercial opportunity in each sector of the battery industry, including diagnostics, quality assurance, active cycling control, and the emerging second-life markets. Several advantages include sensitivity to subtle physical changes within cells, the ability to probe lab and commercial scale cells, and sub-millisecond readings. From battery R&D, to manufacturing, to management systems, ultrasound for batteries will help enable the efficient generation, storage, and use of energy worldwide. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will support the development of this technology leading to the first commercial ultrasonic battery analysis unit. The feasibility of 1) miniaturized pulser-receivers with pulsing and switching speeds that are orders of magnitude faster than commercial units, and 2) miniaturized transducers that can transmit and receive high quality signals will be demonstrated. This would enable the detection of high-rate phenomena and the use of multiplexed systems. 3) The use of fast data analysis algorithms for real-time SOC prediction using acoustics as the main input will also be addressed. These objectives are necessary for demonstrating the applicability of ultrasonic analysis to the battery R&D, manufacturing, and second life markets. The success of Phase I of this project will lead to the development of micron-scale sensors for incorporation in battery management systems. In Phase II, algorithms for SOH prediction and cycling control based on acoustic data will be developed, as well as investigation of the design and fabrication of microelectronic transducers will be performed.
Errata
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Ferrologix
SBIR Phase I: Ratcheting Cytometry Instrument for Performing Cell Therapy Quality Control Assays
Contact
1916 Robinson St.
Redondo Beach, CA 90278–1915
NSF Award
1721432 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/15/2017 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be the development of an instrument to address the scaling and regulatory challenges of quality control that increase cost and impede large scale deployment of cellular therapies to a wide patient base. Cellular therapies taking advantage of engineered human cells have shown incredible potential as "living drugs" that achieve personalized therapies for cancer patients. Recent improvements in these therapies have shown their efficacy in targeting and killing specific types of leukemias. In light of these successes, more and more research and clinical trials are being proposed to improve current efficacy in treating blood cancers and adapting these therapies to other cancers types. While showing promise in the fight against cancer, there is growing concern over the manufacturability of clinical doses, especially when scaling up to meet global demands. Additionally, the speed at which these therapies are being developed is causing regulatory agencies to lag behind in terms of quality control and release criteria. Both of these issues will need to be addressed as cellular therapies continue to improve and increase in demand. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop an integrated quality control instrument for the manufacture of cellular therapies, which centers around a disruptive new technology called ratcheting cytometry. Currently, quality control of therapeutic cell batches remains difficult to standardize and scale given the plethora of standalone tools needed to adequately characterize each batch. This modular approach has high capital cost, high recurring maintenance costs, and requires skilled technicians. Ideally, the capabilities of these standalone tools can be combined into one automated system to provide standardized metrics for cellular therapy quality without user variability. Leveraging well-established immunomagnetic cell labeling techniques, ratcheting cytometry is able combine the capabilities of quality control tools by individually measuring magnetic content and gating based on surface expression. Leveraging these advantages, the goal is to demonstrate feasibility for an integrated instrument to quantify cell number, viability, surface expression, and cytokine secretion of therapeutic cell batches in a single step assay.
Errata
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Filament Games, LLC
SBIR Phase I: STEM Finest Hour
Contact
316 WEST WASHINGTON AVE, SUITE 1
Madison, WI 53703–3432
NSF Award
1648416 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will produce a Virtual Reality (VR)-based multiplayer game in which high school-aged players must collaboratively think through and solve complex, authentic Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM)-based problems. The United States faces a shortage of degreed STEM workers. More than half of high school students have indicated that they aren't pursuing STEM degrees or careers because they feel unprepared for or unaware of the opportunities available to them. Further, many students indicate they're interested in science and crave engaging, real-world experiences, but feel that they have limited authentic STEM opportunities in school. There is a need for experiences that engage students in authentic collaborative STEM thinking, and this project seeks to provide them with a compelling virtual problem space using VR. This project also seeks to provide educators with an accessible technology pathway to bring premium VR hardware into schools. Though VR has been heralded as a transformative technology, it currently faces expense and scalability hurdles for in-school use. By leveraging a mixture of technologies and role-based multiplayer, this project will create the virtual context to help players see problems as solvable through reason, experimentation, and collaboration - the heart of STEM philosophy. Players will work together, sharing their knowledge and expertise, running experiments, and solving difficult, compelling science problems. The core technical innovation of this project is the design and deployment methodology that will make premium Virtual Reality (VR) experiences a practical tool for schools. The project will result in a multiplayer experience in which one player uses the VR headset to act as the field agent, supported by 5-25 other students using traditional devices with role-based interfaces to act as mission control. By developing asymmetrical (but equally compelling) play experiences, the project will engage all students in collaborative Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) problem-solving. There are three main problems that this project must solve for educators: the hardware problem (VR hardware is expensive, difficult to scale to more than one student at a time, and requires installation and maintenance); the ambitious pedagogy problem (providing hands-on discovery and inquiry experiences that allow for meaningful collaboration and problem-solving); and the embodiment problem (students need to feel personally invested in the problems we devise if the experience is to be meaningful and transformational). The research goals are 1) To determine whether STEM-based scenarios can be generated with sufficient depth to engage a group of high school-age students in collaborative, interdisciplinary thought and problem-solving across both field agent and mission control roles; and 2) To determine whether the multiplayer role-play experiences produce significant improvements in STEM content knowledge and disposition among players. In order to measure these goals, multiple usability and feasibility tests will be conducted in authentic formal educational environments. Each test will be accompanied by a pre- and post-test that measures both content knowledge and disposition.
Errata
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Firia, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Bridging the Education Gap Between Block-Based Programs and Cryptic C++ Code with an Internet of Things Based Interactive Code Development and Debug Platform
Contact
152 Stoneway Trl
Madison, AL 35758–8540
NSF Award
1721335 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,915
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will develop a low cost educational platform which provides students a gateway to understanding and writing software code in modern real-world programming languages. The research addresses a pressing need in the K-12 setting to engage both teachers and students in Coding as a Literacy. Current approaches to teaching computer science and programming principles in K-12 often fail to bridge the gap between block-based graphical representations and text-based programming languages. Strong growth in Maker Spaces within school classrooms and libraries has led to a proliferation of Maker-oriented products in the K-12 setting, but teachers and students alike struggle to understand the software coding required to make meaningful use of them. The project embraces the Maker spirit with an expandable robotics platform that provides fertile ground for lesson development, paired with software that enables step-by-step execution of the student's code over a wireless connection. The commercialization of this technology will augment the effectiveness of STEM initiatives underway in the nation?s schools, keep students engaged in more advanced computer programming as they transition into middle and high school levels, boost the enrollment in technical disciplines at the University level, and ultimately increase the technology-related global competitiveness of the national workforce. The goal of this project is to overcome current limitations in microcontroller-based software development, with specific focus on the enablement of interactive debugging capabilities without the use of "target monitor" hardware external to the microcontroller itself. The project includes both software and hardware development efforts, as the research is directed at enabling a highly integrated system through the use of state-of-the-art silicon technology designed for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The advent of these System on Chip (SoC) integrated circuits brings the potential for a radically lower cost, IP-connected educational technology platform. The hardware aspect of the project will include development of a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly leveraging a wireless SoC to provide a Wi-Fi connected robotic computing platform with an expandable circuit interface and a complement of built-in peripherals designed for educational applications. The software will provide a web-based user interface seamlessly integrated with the hardware platform to enable a level of interactive coding not previously seen on a wireless SoC. The commercialized product resulting from this project will leverage this interactive debugging user experience to teach real-world programming language development skills.
Errata
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Addenda
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FlashScan3D, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Evaluation of The Use of A Contactless, Three-Dimensional Scanner for the Collection of Various Fingerprint Impressions
Contact
110 E Houston St 6th Fl
San Antonio, TX 78205–1512
NSF Award
1621938 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enhance the ability of forensic scientists to capture, analyze, and search fingerprint impression evidence in the field. Additionally, a contactless device will eliminate the potential for alteration, loss of detail, or destruction of the fingerprint impression. This system will also have a positive impact on law enforcement agencies by accelerating fingerprint recovery, improving the quality of fingerprint impression evidence collected at crime scenes, reducing training requirements, and accelerating investigations. Furthermore, this project will address numerous concerns and recommendations regarding fingerprints and forensics published in the National Research Council's (NRC) 2009 Report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a novel device capable of digitally acquiring the various types of fingerprint impressions found at crime scenes - latent, patent, and plastic. Fingerprints represent one of the most important and fragile types of evidence. However, manually processing crime scenes for fingerprint impressions requires trained technicians, a variety of supplies, and a significant amount of time. Once visualized and processed, fingerprint impressions must undergo a multitude of steps in order to be digitized for searching against databases of exemplar fingerprint records. The goal of Phase I is to determine the technical and commercial feasibility of utilizing a contactless, three-dimensional (3D) scanning device to acquire different types of fingerprint impressions deposited on a variety of surfaces and convert them into two-dimensional (2D) fingerprints that are consistent and compatible with existing fingerprint databases and matching algorithms. To achieve these goals, the research team will build a prototype 3D scanner, develop new unrolling and segmentation algorithms, and test the ability to match recovered fingerprints against a database of exemplar fingerprint records.
Errata
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Addenda
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FlexTraPower
SBIR Phase I: Conformal Temperature Sensors for Remote Monitoring of Diabetic Ulceration
Contact
29-10 Thomson Ave FL 7 ste 24
Queens, NY 11101–2929
NSF Award
1648057 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide a new class of soft, flexible, nonabrasive sensing elements which provide precise temperature readings to positively impact the health and mobility of diabetic patients. The principle impetus of this research is to focus primarily on advanced diabetic patients who suffer from nerve damage to their feet. These patients cannot feel their feet, leading to two important and related results. First, they are at high risk for an increased number of undetected ulcerating injuries from tissue damage produced by walking (friction) or standing (pressure). Second, since these injuries are undetected and unfelt, there is a decreased urgency by the patient to seek medical care. Delays in medical intervention further exacerbate injuries and complicate treatment, leading to an economic burden associated with foot ulceration estimated at $15 billion annually. More importantly, the 5-year mortality rate after first ulceration (40%) approaches mortality rates from heart failure (50%). The key need for a simple and cost-effective ulcer-prevention paradigm is a safe, easy-to-use foot monitoring system with temperature-sensing capability with a remote readout. The proposed project utilizes an innovative approach to develop a non-invasive sensing system that will provide the ability to constantly monitor skin temperature. Skin temperature has been shown to be a predictive indicator of foot-ulcer development and can additionally be used as a measure of wound healing. A simple system enabling early detection of imminent skin ulceration subsequently reduces further tissue damage, decreasing limb amputations and saving financial, medical and emotional resources. The proof of concept sensor is designed to reside daily in a patient?s shoe to record temperatures while the patient experiences damaging activity such as walking or standing, alerting the patient to impending tissue injury. The sensor can also reside daily in a patient?s medical-treatment cast, providing a constant readout of skin temperature indicating tissue healing, allowing for out-patient monitoring and decreasing repeated visits to medical facilities for checkups.
Errata
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Addenda
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FloraPulse Co
SBIR Phase I: Water potential probe for real-time, spatially resolved measurements of water potential in precision agriculture
Contact
204 First St
Ithaca, NY 14850–5201
NSF Award
1721708 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,766
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will provide farmers with water status measurements that are unprecedented with respect to spatial and temporal resolution, cost, and ease-of-use. In a first market - precision agriculture - the hardware and associated services will provide an invaluable guide to agronomic practice, from site selection and the definition of cropping strategies, to the management of irrigation, and through to the timing of harvest. Domestically, water sensing for precision agriculture represents a potential market of $1 billion. The technology and methods developed under this award will create value for the customer by reducing the cost of inputs (water), by maximizing product yield and quality, and by improving reliability. The technology developed under this program will be ready for beta-testing and initial sales. Further, it will provide a foundation for the development of a suite of services tailored to support the decision-making of the customer with respect to water management. On a societal level, this technology will help customers improve food security, manage water resources with respect to both consumption and pollution, minimize the impacts of weather and climate variability, and improve the economics of their businesses and regions. The intellectual merit of this project leverages a laboratory breakthrough: the ability to manipulate liquid water at negative pressure as plants do to form a sensor of drought stress. This biomimetic approach builds on a series of innovations in material science, microfabrication, and micro and nano-fluidic design by the investigators. This project will address outstanding design and manufacturing challenges to optimize the sensor for use across all agricultural contexts. The key advances relate to microelectromechanical design and the engineering of nano-structured materials within an integrated sensing platform. Additional challenges that will be addressed relate to understanding the physics of water transfer and uptake from soils in order to define best practice in the evaluation of water stress for irrigation management. Successful completion of these tasks will allow for commercialization of the sensor and build a foundation for continued innovation in tools and services for water management in agriculture and other markets. The new tools and understanding generated under this award will also support developments in plant science, ecophysiology, geotechnical engineering, and industrial processes related to food, advanced materials, and biotechnology.
Errata
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Addenda
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Fluency Lighting Technologies, Inc.
STTR Phase I: Optical Modeling and Materials Performance in Laser-Stimulated Phosphors for Next-Generation Solid-State Lighting
Contact
819 Reddick St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93103–3124
NSF Award
1549853 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$255,313
Start / end date
01/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to deliver energy and electricity savings in the high-power lighting market, by creating an energy-efficient, high color-quality, and cost effective alternative to conventional light sources using laser technology and materials design. Commercialization of this innovation could lead to the next generation of energy-efficient light sources, surpassing the limitations of current lighting technologies and drastically increasing the availability and uptake of energy-efficient light sources in the high-power market. As lighting is a major source of electricity use in the commercial and industrial markets, this would in turn aid in reducing global energy consumption and help to preserve our environment. The intellectual knowledge gained from these studies will inform future materials research in developing robust materials with optimal properties to advance solid-state lighting, as well as other energy related technologies including solar energy technologies. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to advance research in the field of solid-state lighting towards the goal of ultra-efficient and smart lighting by exploring laser-stimulated phosphor emission. In particular, the proposed innovation focuses on energy savings in the high-power lighting market, where high-power light emitting diode (LED) technology does not attain the energy efficiency seen in low-power LED technology, due to LED droop. The use of laser technology can simultaneously overcome the negative effects of droop while also leveraging the directional nature of a laser to create a focused light source that can be better controlled and delivered to the illumination area with less losses and higher overall efficiency. This project will address device designs using optical modeling to maximize lighting performance metrics and will develop materials systems to mitigate the thermal effects introduced when using an intense light source such as a laser or high-power LED, which can damage and degrade materials within the device.
Errata
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Furtim Therapeutics LLC
SBIR Phase I: Development, Optimization and Analysis of Poly (Carboxy Betaine) Bio-conjugates to L-Asparagianse as PEGylation Alternatives
Contact
4000 Mason Rd. STE 304
Seattle, WA 98105–0000
NSF Award
1721450 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 04/30/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project aims to develop a superior alternative to the current frontline treatment for children?s Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). The primary treatment option has a host of negative side effects resulting from the use of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugated to the L-asparaginase enzyme. Antibodies made against this drug can cause the body to eliminate it rapidly or result in a severe allergic reaction and even death, particularly after multiple injections (induced immunity). PEG has been utilized extensively in the food, cosmetics and agricultural industries. As a result, the majority of healthy people test positive for anti-PEG antibodies (pre-existing immunity), causing the elimination of PEG-modified drugs before their action. The technology proposed here utilizes the non-essential amino acid, glycine betaine, to construct a new poly(carboxybetaine) (PCB) polymer for conjugation that is not recognized as a foreign molecule by the immune system. Therefore, it will maintain function and mitigate the negative side effects associated with the immune system that are attributed to the current therapy. Additionally, therapy with PCB conjugates avoids pre-existing immunity to PEG and ensures treatment efficacy. The primary goal of this work is to show that the technology is superior to and safer than the current PEG technology. The technical innovation at the foundation of this work is the zwitterionic, poly(carboxybetaine) (PCB) polymer and its use as a bio-conjugate to replace the widely used poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) for the treatment of children?s Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). The unique properties of the zwitterionic polymer impart remarkable characteristics to the bio-conjugate that truly eliminates immunogenicity. The current frontline treatment suffers from Accelerated Blood Clearance (ABC) in patients, which has been attributed to induced or pre-existing anti-PEG antibodies. This Phase I project aims to demonstrate that PCB is a preferable bio-conjugation polymer to PEG for the modification of L-asparaginase with regard to extended half-life and decreased immunogenicity after multiple doses in mice. To achieve the goals, an optimized PCB L-asparaginase will be developed with regard to polymer length and conjugation density and a multi-dose pharmacokinetic/immunogenicity study will be performed to evaluate its half-life and immune protection in animals. All results will be compared with those from its PEG counterpart. It is expected that PCB L-asparaginase has great potential to eradicate the serious side effects associated with the current therapy. If PCB L-asparaginase proves to be safe and effective, this will lead to more successful outcomes for the treatment of ALL.
Errata
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Addenda
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GAiTE LLC
SBIR Phase I: Developing the internet of livable spaces for older adults
Contact
460 Turner Street NW
Blacksburg, VA 24060–3329
NSF Award
1621994 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the improvement in the quality of life for older adults currently affected by falls. Every year over 700,000 older adults are hospitalized in the United States due to fall-related injuries, which result in $34B in direct medical costs. The proposed technology will reduce first and future falls by providing an older adult's medical treatment team (e.g., physician, physical therapist, etc.) with fall history and ambulatory information. Fall histories are difficult to obtain and unreliable (as many occurrences are not self-reported). The underlying technological development can be further expanded to allow smart buildings to behave as "first responders" and aid their occupants during man-made and natural disasters. Extensions of this technology have potential in many fields, including efficient energy management systems, security and threat detection, emergency response and evacuation, and structural health monitoring. The proposed technology respects privacy while enabling significant improvement in infrastructure intelligence. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a state-of-the-art lifestyle-monitoring system for older adults in assisted homes that has a comprehensive approach towards fall prevention and detection. The healthcare industry has invested significant resources in predicting falls based on the number of previous falls, but current healthcare professional's access to individual patient fall history is limited due to unreliable self-reporting. Additionally, research has shown that the risk of future falls can be greatly reduced through timely preventative treatments. This prevention is achieved by indirectly monitoring the physical activity and falls of older adults through floor-mounted accelerometers coupled with data analytics processing. This analysis studies inherent patterns in recorded data of events such as falls, walking, door slams, etc. Prediction is made possible through the recording of the unreported falls and health history. The anticipated output of this system is a means of detecting falls, locating them, and effective historical data storage, which will result in a more accurate future risk evaluation of the older adult.
Errata
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Addenda
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General Probiotics Inc
SBIR Phase I: New antibiotic technologies to eliminate Salmonella carriage in poultry
Contact
421 Washington Ave SE Rm 360
Minneapolis, MN 55455–0132
NSF Award
1621092 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to develop technology to reduce pathogenic salmonella carriage in poultry. The challenge addressed is the one of foodborne bacterial gastrointestinal infections. These infections are significant causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Of alarming concern is the emergence of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. A major source of drug-resistance development is the widespread use of antibiotics in animal production. An estimated 70% of all antibiotics produced in the US are administered to livestock, primarily to promote growth and improve feed efficiency, even in the absence of infection. This sub-therapeutic administration of antibiotics to animals creates a vast reservoir for the selection of drug-resistant bacteria. As a potential solution to this problem, probiotic bacteria will be engineered that express and secrete antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of animals. In this application, the focus is on chickens, a significant source of animal protein in diets around the globe. Foodborne Salmonella infects millions of people in the US every year, and the major source of Salmonella poisoning are poultry products. The goal is to reduce carriage of Salmonella in chickens to ensure safe food and reduce the need for antibiotics. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will assess a new, transformative antibiotic technology. Antibiotic, AMP-producing probiotics will be used to reduce pathogens in poultry intestines. Pathogens in poultry intestines are considered the major source of contamination of poultry meat during processing. AMPs are small proteins with remarkable bactericidal properties. Probiotics will be tested as AMP-delivery vehicles. Probiotics are bile-resistant microorganisms that can be delivered safely in food or water. Synthetic biological DNA promoter regions will be employed to precisely control the delivery of AMPs at the site of infection. The impact of controllable AMP delivery will be examined in poultry challenged by Salmonella Enteritidis, a common foodborne pathogen. The impact will be examined for live biotherapeutic bacteria on the microbiota present in the GI tracts of poultry. This project will result in the following advances in discovery/development: 1) Discovery of antimicrobial peptides that selectively target Salmonella spp. 2) Development of peptide expression and secretion cassettes for probiotics; 3) Development of probiotics that competitively inhibit the growth of Salmonella spp.; 4) Development of probiotics that may be supplied safely to farm animals; and 5) Development of probiotics that positively modulate the gut microbiome of poultry.
Errata
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Genoverde Biosciences, Incorporated
SBIR Phase I: Genetic improvement of loblolly pine wood for increased density
Contact
604 Avis Dr.
Upper Marlboro, MD 20774–2282
NSF Award
1621939 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to increase wood production of managed loblolly pine tree farms by 20%. Global demand for forest industry products, e.g., pulp for paper, saw timber, and wood pellets for fuel, is expected to rise 60-100% by 2060. As the world's 4th largest exporter of forest products, the U.S. is well positioned to help meet these growing needs. To do so, managed loblolly pine tree farms will play a large role in supplying the demand. Using a biotechnology gene trait approach to introduce cell wall gene technology, the goal is to engineer pine trees with 20% more wood density over conventional crops. This may result in more wood material per tree, per acre with no added cost to production processing, i.e., no increase use of land, water, or fertilizers. As an added benefit, bioengineered trees with cell wall gene technologies aid in protecting the environment by sequestering more atmospheric CO2 thus helping to combat the negative effects of global climate change. Ultimately, this work may lead to the development of renewable materials needed to meet societal needs while helping to protect the environment. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase (SBIR) I project proposes to evaluate the use of a biotechnology gene trait approach to bioengineer loblolly pine for high wood density by modifying secondary cell wall gene regulation. The proposed research would utilize a newly adapted pine transformation protocol to introduce cell wall gene platform technologies, together with ubiquitously expressed and secondary wall-specific promoters, to significantly and selectively increase cell wall density in loblolly pine. Bioengineered plants will be selected using herbicide resistance and the effects of transgene incorporation analyzed through gene expression and histochemical analysis. The anticipated outcome of this project will be 400 bioengineered pine seedlings with greater strength and increased value to be tested in greenhouse and field trials once approved. This project will serve as proof-of-concept testing for select cell wall gene technologies in commercial tree crops towards technology commercialization.
Errata
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Geopipe, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Reconstructing Consistently Detailed City-Scale Environments From Incomplete 2D and 3D Data
Contact
19 E 7th St Apt 2
New York, NY 10003–8071
NSF Award
1721578 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,009
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to make it cheaper and faster for architects, urban planners, and real-estate developers (APDs), as well as many others, to work with detailed models of the real world. Designers in APD fields must visualize and render their projects in the context of the real world. Pictures, videos, 3D printing, and even virtual reality inform the design process and facilitate communication with lay customers and stakeholders. These applications require consistently detailed models of the built world, and this project will automate the generation of these models. We estimate that APDs spend at least $80M annually creating these models by hand; and that at least $300M more is spent on such models for simulations, special effects, and video game design. By algorithmically generating virtual models without human intervention, the significant cost (in time and money) of manual creation will be saved, freeing design professionals to do work they want to be doing. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance the state of the art in reconstructing highly detailed models of the world for diverse commercial applications. The first hurdle is solving the problem of reconstructing surfaces representing the boundaries of real-world solids (buildings) from noisy point cloud data. While surface reconstruction is well-studied in a variety of contexts, it remains an open problem in general, as successful algorithms must be informed by priors on the intended datasets. Using a data-driven approach to segment and classify input point clouds will facilitate the application of different reconstruction techniques to different objects (e.g. trees or buildings). The second hurdle is development of a machine learning algorithm which handles the dual problems of procedural modeling and inverse procedural modeling from a single statistical model, enabling visually realistic predictions about the details of a given building, even when that information is not available from source data (which may be of inconsistent quality across a large geographic area).
Errata
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Green Dynamics Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Highly Tailored Automated Laminate Production for Advanced Composite Infusions.
Contact
29 Cedarwood Rd.
Cotuit, MA 02635–1655
NSF Award
1622015 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 02/28/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will develop an automated composite lamination kitting and stitching machine. This demonstration machine will be capable of placing, cutting and securing 6 layers of dry composite material in parallel. The parallel nature of the process greatly improves manufacturing time, while the reel-to-reel capable layout of the machine allows for manufacturing of long continuous laminates using a comparatively small machine footprint. The key technical hurdles will be software control and mechanical management of multiple parallel plies. During this research project Green Dynamics will demonstrate the proposed machine control proposal and mechanical system layout, which allows multiple plies to spool in parallel and be cut on individual gantries simultaneously. The Green Dynamics lamination kitting and stitching machine will demonstrate the labor and cost savings that can be achieved through automated manufacturing of a single piece laminate. These savings will enable the continued reduction in cost for composite materials, and spur their growth into new markets. Decreasing the cost and improving the quality of composite structures such as wind turbine blades and automotive components is a key path to lower carbon emissions. The proposed manufacturing machine handles multiple fabric rolls in parallel and uses proprietary control algorithms and fabric handling methods to cut and secure up to 6 layers of material simultaneously. As individual layers are processed independently the resulting laminate stack is highly tailored and places material only where it is needed. The final product is transportable, and for very long length parts, can be rolled up to minimize transport size. At the manufacturing location this laminate is placed in the tool in a single step, which greatly reduces the time to manufacture the part and the process time in the tool. No other composite automation machine can provide a single piece lamination which is tailored in multiple directions. The resulting laminate effectively uses the orthotropic properties of composite materials to achieve lower weights while enabling much lower touch labor rates. The multi-roll, linear orientation of our machine allows for reel to reel processing of long narrow laminates in a small machine footprint, and results in a rolled, transportable laminate.
Errata
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Green Fortress Engineering, Inc
STTR Phase I: Hydrogen Storage in Catalytically-modified Porous Silicon
Contact
113 SW Santee Dr
Greensburg, IN 47240–0000
NSF Award
1648748 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 10/31/2017
Abstract
This STTR Phase I project will study the storage of hydrogen on a novel material produced from silicon - the same substance used to make solar panels and computer chips. This unique and patented approach has the potential to eclipse all prior methods of hydrogen storage in terms of pressure, temperature, safety, cost, and convenience. Silicon is earth-abundant and benign to humans - it is even promotes healthy skin, hair, and fingernails. The implication of hydrogen-in-silicon is that fuel cell-powered vehicles, homes, and electronics can be far more efficient and clean than any other source of energy. Of great significance is that this technology will allow homeowners and businesses to generate their own hydrogen by splitting water using rooftop solar panels. By storing this as hydrogen-in-silicon a home can be run overnight or for many days during a cloudy spell. Hydrogen can replace the batteries in portable electronics so they can last up to 20 days without a recharge - far longer than with batteries. And if the rooftop system is of sufficient size, one can produce the hydrogen needed for a fuel cell vehicle, such as those already on the market. The implications of this are far-reaching, allowing complete energy independence for all, for all time to come, with minimal environmental impact and using almost completely renewable and low-cost resources which are easy to recycle. Porous silicon is easy to synthesize but requires a catalyst to recharge from a gaseous source. The introduction of the catalyst is critical as it must be controlled spatially and positioned to effect spillover onto and off of silicon. Density Functional Theory studies show this is energetically favorable and first-order macroscopic calculations indicate that recharge can be effected in 3.5 minutes at 8 bar and 250 C. The overall energy difference between fully-charged and fully-discharged silicon-hydrogen is an amazingly low 1 kcal/mol. The energy barrier is the strong H-H bond which dominates the kinetics. The course of this project is to strategically place palladium atoms at specific sites on the matrix of porous silicon so that it can mediate the H-H bond energy and allow spillover onto the 800 m^2/gm surface area of microporous silicon. This has been patented but never demonstrated in the laboratory, which is why this funding from NSF is needed. A further goal of this work is to demonstrate the viability of low-cost silicon using metallurgical grade material instead of the single-crystal silicon which has been used to date.
Errata
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Grid Logic Incorporated
SBIR Phase I: Nanostructured High-Strength Magnet for Automotive Applications
Contact
1555 Atlantic Blvd
Auburn Hills, MI 48326–1501
NSF Award
1647943 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$218,205
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop an improved permanent magnet that will allow cost reduction and/or vehicle weight reduction in automotive applications. This permanent magnet product will be fabricated from samarium cobalt magnetic particles that are encapsulated with a nanometer scale coating of iron or cobalt metal. Bonded permanent magnets manufactured using these nanostructured powders will have energy products at least 30% greater than samarium cobalt alone. This increase in performance means that the same motor can use 20% less magnetic material resulting in cost savings, weight savings, and reduction in the use of the critical rare earth element samarium. In addition, compact high-performance permanent magnets will help the United States reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emission with no adverse effect on vehicle performance. The technical objective in this Phase I research project is to validate the feasibility of achieving a high energy product nanostructured permanent magnet powder by coating commercially available samarium cobalt particles with nanometer-scale shells of iron or cobalt. Nanostructured permanent magnet powders, comprised of micron-size hard magnetic core particles surrounded by nanometer-scale soft magnetic shells, show promise as a replacement for high energy product rare earth permanent magnets. Commercial production of these materials, however, has proved problematic due to the difficulty of handling and coating ultrafine powders while maintaining clean core-shell interfaces. In this Phase I project, magnetic nanostructured powders will be fabricated using powder encapsulation technology has been shown to enable the production of nanometer-scale metallic shell layers on micron-sized metallic core particles in an ultra-clean atmosphere controlled environment. Using these powders, proof-of-concept bonded permanent magnets will be manufactured and evaluated for potential use in simple motors that utilize bonded samarium cobalt or neodymium iron boron magnets. High performance magnetic core-shell powders produced with this particle encapsulation technology will demonstrate the possibility of achieving reduced rare-earth-content high energy product permanent magnets and lay the foundation for commercial-scale production of these materials.
Errata
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HWL Corporation
SBIR Phase I: Machine Learning Software for Situation Awareness in the Operating Room for Improved Patient Flow
Contact
785 Cragmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94708–1344
NSF Award
1720726 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is a significant increase in the efficiency of hospital operations. The project focuses on the sources of inefficiencies in the planning, staffing, coordination, and execution of surgical procedures. Preliminary analysis of hospital data shows that the throughput of perioperative units can be increased significantly with the same staffing while reducing the delays that patients experience and improving the working conditions of the personnel. Such improvements have the potential of saving upwards of $1B per year. Delays in obtaining and communicating updates on the status of surgeries and on actions that personnel should perform are major causes of inefficiency, as is the randomness of the tasks' duration. The timing of those messages depends on the knowledge of the state of the system and a prediction about its future evolution. Delays in gathering information and incorrect predictions of the effect of actions result in reduced efficiency. The proposed innovation improves the selection and timing of messages. The proposed project is based on a machine learning approach for the optimization of real-time messaging using actual hospital data. The approach combines new parametric models of real-time scheduling, stochastic gradient descent, and infinitesimal perturbation analysis. In this formulation, perturbation analysis computes the gradient of the objective function with respect to the timing of messages and results in an efficient algorithm. The algorithm discovers the best time to send messages to optimize a combination of operating room efficiency and patient waiting times. The methodology is able to evaluate the complex cascading impact of scheduling decisions and to identify the best course of action when dealing with contingencies. Timely situation awareness will contribute to improved patient flow in the hospital.
Errata
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Harvest CROO, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Orchestration of Multiple Robotic Subsystems into a Commercially Viable Robotic Strawberry Harvesting System
Contact
100 Stearns St.
Plant City, FL 33563–5045
NSF Award
1647566 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will address the ability to use automation to harvest strawberries in the United States in an environment where migrant labor is scarce and the work is undesirable. The project is borrowing techniques and methods that have been used and refined in many other high volume manufacturing/production industries and applying the applicable ideas to harvesting food crops with automated machines. Big data methods are also being developed in conjunction with the acquisition techniques that will assist crop growing with predictive information about future yields and help with monitoring plant health in relation to disease and pest infestation. The business model being developed helps the adoption of the technology into the farming community by not requiring the farmers to have large capital outlays by providing the anticipated machines to the farmers as a service to replace their labor. The initiation of the service will therefore be an easy decision for a farmer to make and will be helpful in establishing the standard for future harvesting models and techniques. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is developing techniques and ideas to be able to accomplish the robotic harvesting of some of the most labor intensive and delicate fruit. Special machine vision techniques are being utilized to be able to simultaneously detect, decipher and target the fruit at a speeds conducive to commercial harvesting. Also, unique machine techniques that will enable the harvesting of the fruit without bruising. Objectives include experimenting with ideas that will lead to more consistent fruit packing and techniques to increase fruit shelf life after picking. Most prior research in these areas focused on being able to pick the fruit with machines and not so much on the ability to do it at commercial speeds. The entire purpose of the systems of the Harvest CROO is to rapidly acquire the fruit under the plants and then be able to pack and carry it out of the fields. Many of the projects until this point had no allotment for removing the fruit from the fields. The Harvest CROO system will establish standards for this.
Errata
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Addenda
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Hauoli, LLC
SBIR Phase I: EW: Champion Air Tracker (CAT)
Contact
10404 Skyflower Drive
Austin, TX 78759–6430
NSF Award
1621833 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is three-fold. First, accurate motion tracking is an open research problem, and the proposed approaches have the potential to significantly advance state-of-the-art in localization and tracking and facilitate new innovations. Second, there is the potential for significant commercial impacts. The project aims to introduce a disruptive technology in motion tracking to benefit a broad customer base. If successful, it can accelerate development of companies whose products benefit from motion tracking. Third, motion tracking has many applications and opens the door to new ways of interacting with everyday devices, education, and health care, which has profound societal impacts. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes a cutting-edge novel motion tracking system based on audio signals. It promises to turn a mobile phone into a universal controller. By simply moving his or her hand holding a mobile phone, a user can play interactive games, interact with VR/AR headsets, and remotely control smart appliances. It offers four distinctive advantages: (i) high tracking accuracy, (ii) low-cost and easy deployment as it does not require any extra hardware and is a completely software-based solution, (iii) easy to use - simply by hand movement, and (iv) will work under a wide range of scenarios. The proposed technology can potentially revolutionize the gaming and VR/AR industries, and enable new applications in tele-presence, education, and health care.
Errata
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Health Esense, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Breathalyzer for Non-invasive Disease Detection Using a Single Ammonia Sensor
Contact
12 Stonefield Rd.
Avon, CT 06001–2838
NSF Award
1721494 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project lies in the opportunity to provide accurate, real time information to motivate patients to manage their disease; drive early, evidenced-based interventions; and prevent unnecessary physician visits and hospital stays. This non-invasive device, a breathalyzer, will measure the level of ammonia in exhaled breath. High ammonia levels are associated with conditions such as advanced liver disease, urea cycle disorders (UCD), or adverse reactions to medication. It has serious consequences: disorientation, organ/brain damage, coma and even death, making it important to take steps to quickly reduce systemic ammonia and, if the cause is unknown, trigger further diagnostic activities. Currently, ammonia levels are determined through blood testing, which is invasive, takes time, requires a lab/hospital visit, and is prone to errors. There are no tools available to accurately measure ammonia, real time. The device will enable patients and families to take control and make better decisions: what to eat, when not to drive, when to go to the hospital, among other things. This can improve productivity, enhance quality of life for patients and their families, avoid unnecessary healthcare expenditures, and save lives. The proposed project seeks to develop a breathalyzer prototype to detect ammonia in exhaled breath. The device is expected to provide clinically-accurate, real time information to patients and clinicians. Ammonia occurs naturally as a by-product of protein metabolism but, at elevated levels, it is indicative of disease and can have very serious consequences. Contemporary research has identified roughly 250 common volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath, many associated with specific diseases. Small concentration differences can detect whether someone is healthy or ill. This requires highly sensitive, selective and durable sensors that can perform in high humidity. The core platform is a Reactive Spray Deposition technology, a proprietary sensor manufacturing technology that creates a porous nanostructure metal oxides grains layer, and is able to provide results with a fast response time at a low cost. This results from the ability to easily and inexpensively produce different morphologies of materials from the vapor phase in the open atmosphere in a one-step process. The end-product of this project will be a prototype utilizing a single sensor for detection of NH3. It will include a novel breath delivery system and associated signal processing algorithms for quantification of the gas concentration in breath, based on the sensor response.
Errata
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High Precision Devices, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Phantom Head for Testing and Standardizing Transcranial Magnetic and Direct Current Stimulation Therapies
Contact
1668 Valtec Ln Ste C
Boulder, CO 80301–4655
NSF Award
1622060 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to understand how conductivity in the brain is affected by anatomical variability between patients and, more importantly, to enable precise treatment of neurological diseases using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) techniques. A number of studies have shown these techniques may be used, cost-effectively, to improve learning, working memory, as well as relieve chronic pain and the symptoms of depression, fibromyalgia, Parkinson's, and schizophrenia. However, current understanding of electromagnetic (EM) characteristics for the human head and state-of-the-art TMS and tDCS techniques suffer from the inability to precisely control the most appropriate excitation pathways in the brain to support a specified clinical objective. This can result in unexpected and sometimes ineffective or even detrimental outcomes. Models and TMS/tDCS treatment systems for implementation of excitation techniques are not validated to standards. A thorough understanding of pathways and development of validated mimics and phantom structures will enable development and clinical implementation of precisely controlled analytical models and protocols for effective, widely accessible, reliable and safe TMS/tDCS treatments. The proposed project will address gaps in current knowledge of intracranial electromagnetic characteristics and materials performance to develop reproducible head phantoms for clinical implementation of more precise, quantifiable tDCS and TMS techniques. This research will characterize solid, liquid and gel materials selected to comply with biomedical and commercialization criteria. Analyses will be used to develop formulations of combinations of materials that address the range of conductivity and anisotropy of the parts and interfaces of the human brain. These formulations will be experimentally evaluated and refined for producibility and accuracy. This will provide a database of materials solutions which will be used in Phase II and beyond. Traditional brain conductivity mimics are simple spherical shells consisting of a single agar based conductivity mimic, which lacks the complexity of the human brain. The challenges of developing an EM brain phantom include fabrication of the various materials for controlled and reproducible anisotropic conductivity values, shaping these materials to mimic anatomical features, and combining them to represent boundary interfaces and control gaps for accurate pathway performance. The proposed effort includes development of a shell mimic that incorporates applicable material formulations to validate extensibility to more sophisticated prototype phantoms during Phase II.
Errata
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Highland Light Management Corp
SBIR Phase I: Development and testing of a dry fracture technique to reduce water use and increase life cycle yield in oil and gas extraction
Contact
20624 Highland Drive
Montgomery Village, MD 20886–4021
NSF Award
1721502 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to significantly increase recovery efficiency and decrease ecological footprint. The ecological footprint is decreased by reducing the amount of water required to produce oil and gas from many low permeability U.S. unconventional plays. Further, it will provide access to the vast reserves of potential oil and gas (estimated at greater than 2 trillion barrels) stored as immature organic material helping to enhance energy independence for the US. The new methods will enhance production of oil and gas from a controllable volume surrounding development wells. The proposed methods will replace the rapid declines in well productivity of fracked wells, and the accompanying typically less than 10% recovery of hydrocarbons in place, by a strategy which will construct multi-year oil and gas "factories" which will have continuous, predictable, twenty year production lifetimes. Increased recovery factors through increased efficiency will enhance the value of existing plays and provide a step-change in sustainable energy production while lowering environmental impact through reducing surface disruption and minimizing water use and disposal. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop the models necessary to simulate the Radio Frequency (RF) waterless stimulation process, and to provide laboratory and numerical data to support that model. A self-consistent model of the RF system and its downhole environment, is required to define the conditions for which RF stimulation makes economic sense, and to optimize system design for a given target play. Project objectives are to 1) demonstrate design of a RF system which mitigates the previous problems found with RF heating, 2) test in the laboratory the effects of RF heating on reservoir rock subject to realistic in situ conditions to understand the resultant crack field and accompanying permeability enhancement, including the impact of RF heating on immature kerogen, 3) model the resulting stress and fracture fields with sufficient fidelity to make predictions for oil and gas recovery, and 4) use this information to form a self consistent model of the process so that various shale plays can be evaluated. A commercial multiphysics numerical modeling approach will be used to simulate the physical processes that occur including feedback to account for temperature increases and the impacts of in situ stress and structural complexity.
Errata
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Hive Battery Inc
SBIR Phase I: Platform for Impedance Diagnostics and Power Management for Electric Vehicle Battery Systems
Contact
600 N 36th St
Seattle, WA 98103–8699
NSF Award
1621929 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project centers on furthering scientific understanding of degradation in electrochemical energy storage. The project will explore technology that will enable the large-scale transfer of a key laboratory-proven diagnostic tool from the lab to the field. This tool, called electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), is a noninvasive assessment of the internal state of a battery. In contrast to current interest-group-initiated, crowd-sourced qualitative research efforts, EIS would enable the collection and analysis of an unprecedented amount of real-time quantitative data to further scientific understanding of electrochemical lifetime and degradation factors of in applications ranging from electric vehicles to grid and building storage. Highly publicized battery pack failures have increased skepticism of electrochemical energy storage in the public eye, and large-scale scientific studies could aid in faster technological improvements to increase widespread adoption of electrochemical energy storage as the U.S. seeks to improve energy independence, efficiency, and security. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the need to innovate on current battery management methods that force battery system overdesign and power/energy underutilization by introducing a platform to enable diagnosis and correction of inherent cell-to-cell imbalances in electric vehicles to improve battery pack performance, reliability, and safety. Specifically, this work deploys electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a distributed power electronics platform to provide a new toolset for real-time diagnostics and the improved extraction of important information to aid in the determination of battery cell state of charge and state of health. The goal of Phase I Research is to demonstrate efficient and cost-effective scalability of this power-electronics-based EIS. A proof-of-concept prototype has been verified on small-capacity cells, but a commercial solution will need to manage large-capacity cells with much lower impedance which presents control system and EIS accuracy technical challenges. A power converter and accompanying control system will first be developed to meet target specifications, followed by a demonstration board to demonstrate EIS and power management for a number of series-connected cells.
Errata
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Hydronalix
STTR Phase I: Low-cost, onboard navigational autonomy and awareness for next generation UMVs
Contact
1691, W. Duval Commercial Court
Green Valley, AZ 85614–3141
NSF Award
1722355 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,986
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to reduce the necessary supervision and oversight required to operate multiple unmanned platforms in the execution of real-world, specific, task-based activities supporting search and rescue, routine mapping and intelligence gathering missions. Shifting control from teleoperation to autonomous navigation could enable first responders such as lifeguards, to quadruple their capacity to assist in mass, maritime disaster, rescue scenarios for example. The current practice of a single lifeguard handling 3 victims in a routine riptide incident will be improved by a factor of four, through the use of this technology, allowing lifeguards to better manage mass-scale, maritime disasters that may involve a hundred victims. Human lifeguards could focus on those people requiring immediate personal assistance (unconscious, hypothermia or children for instance), while unmanned maritime platforms could be tasked with responding to clusters of survivors better capable of self-rescue. Lifeguard assistant robots can also help with the over 400,000 lower profile events in the US each year. A robot could not only save lives but reduce risk to the lifeguard who typically has to swim or jet-ski out to provide flotation and rescue lines to victims in dangerous conditions. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop increased intelligence and self-awareness for autonomous platforms that will result in an increase in operator ?trust? and allow potential operators who might consider autonomous platforms as ?unreliable? due to potential lost communication links, to have greater confidence in adopting these platforms. The technology will transition from far field navigation control (such as waypoint based navigation) to a near field control allowing precision delivery of the platform to the desired location in a dynamic environment. This capability would allow a maritime platform to autonomously drive to a designated cluster of survivors, slow down and behave according to known social proxemics so as not to further stress the victims. On board, vehicle health monitoring would allow critical system parameters to be reported and broadcast allowing ad-hoc networking with other platforms in the region. The overall objective would be to optimize the use of resources in any region and to quickly allow multiple lifeguard teams converging on a mass marine casualty event to interact but without having to pre-register or have a priori knowledge of each other?s systems.
Errata
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Hyperthesis, LLC
SBIR Phase I: A Radically Efficient Search and Visual Mapping Tool for the Social Sciences
Contact
362 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012–4203
NSF Award
1622260 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 10/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project aims to develop a working prototype for an interactive search and visualization tool that redefines how social scientists and business practitioners interested in scholarly research findings identify such findings. Instead of reading through numerous, unstructured, and often irrelevant text results (such as those produced by traditional academic search engines), users get to (a) instantly view and easily navigate research findings via intuitively-structured, clickable visual maps, and (b) accurately identify those papers most relevant to them, thanks to semantically intelligent indexing and visual reconciliation. This efficiency-enhancing tool makes research findings substantially easier to understand and explore, while drastically cutting down search times for such findings (to half or even less) which will ultimately enhance the efficiency of research endeavors at U.S. universities. Moreover, various inquiries have shown that practitioners in applied fields such as marketing or management place high value on academic research in the social sciences, yet often find such research difficult to understand. The proposed solution distills social science findings into an easily digestible format, hence facilitating the knowledge transfer between academia and businesses, and enhancing the value of academic research to society. Finally, by being marketed as a subscription-based service to both academics and business practitioners, the proposed tool has the potential to generate substantial commercial value in the long term (up to $50 million in annual revenue). The proposed tool fundamentally alters the existing search paradigm in the social sciences, by changing both the way in which research findings from academic papers are indexed, and how such findings are visually presented. It combines an innovation on the back-end (i.e., using Natural Language Understanding (NLU) to automatically extract concepts and causal relationships from academic research papers, and semantically categorize those concepts against a set of discipline-specific thesauri) with an innovation on the front-end (i.e., using aggregate causal mapping to represent the academic literature in the form of interactive maps that can be visually explored and narrowed down in order to precisely locate relevant papers). The main research objective is to test the feasibility of (1) using NLU for accurately identifying and extracting the underlying concepts/variables and causal structure of the studies described in a large set of social science research papers (approximately 1,000 published papers), and of (2) automatically rendering the extracted information in the form of causal maps that both academic and non-academic users can intuitively understand and navigate. This research objective has been reached if a group of test users employ the proposed tool to successfully identify research papers examining particular concepts and relationships, and do so in about half the time needed when using a traditional academic search engine for the same task.
Errata
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IDP Interactive Degree Planner LLC
SBIR Phase I: Interest-Aligned College Degree Planning within an Optimized Multiplan Framework
Contact
730 Wedgewood Way
Madison, WI 53711–1137
NSF Award
1647478 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will develop a web-based application that assists prospective and new college students in the challenging decision of the major/minor choice for their college degree. Studies have shown that 20 to 50 percent of students enter college as undecided in terms of intended majors, and subsequently an astonishing 75 percent actually change their major at least once before graduation. These statistics illustrate one of the key factors that hinder on-time degree completion and boost total student debt to the trillion dollar level. The proposed system administers a brief but highly-regarded personality quiz, then displays majors and minors that align with the results of that quiz. The student makes selections from this list, then clicks a button to see groups of corresponding semester-by-semester shortest-path degree plans with labels indicating their alignment with the personality quiz result. This easy-to-use approach empowers students to make early, well-informed college career choices. Colleges across the country will want to purchase and install this software for many reasons, including: to show their commitment to helping students avoid the all-too-common difficulties and expense of poor college career decisions, to obtain improved graduation rates, and to improve administrative resource planning for future semesters via a database of their students' plans. The key technical innovations of this software system include integration of a personality interest assessment profile within a degree planning system, assignment of interest vectors to individual college courses along with the utilization of this information in the development of degree plans that are well-aligned with student interest vectors, the use of state-of-the-art mathematical optimization techniques in order to quickly generate shortest-path degree plans, and automated multiple-plan generation followed by clustering and cluster labeling within this plan collection in order to provide a simple interface that allows a student to easily navigate through a collection of alternative degree plans. These technical innovations are made possible by the many years of experience in algorithm development by the company team members, and represent an approach not seen in the very limited collection of existing academic planning software, which tends to focus on cumbersome drag-and-drop technology that discourages the exploration of alternative degree paths. The goal of this research is to provide an easy-to-customize and easy-to-install degree planning system that will be readily affordable by any academic institution and that will allow prospective and undecided students to discover and explore in detail - with just a few mouse clicks - those college careers that are aligned with their personal interests.
Errata
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INFOCODING LABS INC
SBIR Phase I: Low-latency polyphonic coding for interactive immersive applications
Contact
5266 HOLLISTER AVE STE 113
Santa Barbara, CA 93111–3032
NSF Award
1647559 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project, and of its underlying technological innovation, is in enabling a diverse variety of applications involving interactive and immersive media, which are central to several sectors that are poised to grow substantially in the coming years. Specifically, the low-latency audio technology developed in the project is a critical enabler for the development of future products that are of significant value to several sectors of the technology industry including, most importantly, the enabling of fully immersive interactive media products for augmented reality games and related applications. Additional impact is expected in the advancement and support of musical collaboration over the internet and enabling remote music education, both with clear cultural and educational implications. Another significant impact is in enabling a truly realistic teleconferencing experience with considerable implications for both business and social networks, with the latter further providing a realistic alternative to fully interactive social gatherings of groups and families without recourse to costly travel. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops a novel paradigm for coding and networking of polyphonic audio content at low-latency via efficient prediction, which is critical to numerous applications in the emerging field of interactive immersive hyper-realistic multimedia. Polyphonic audio, or the mixture of multiple periodic components plus noise, has long resisted effective prediction, thus forcing state-of-the-art coders to either employ long transformation that incurs substantial delay and is incompatible with applications requiring low latency, low complexity and low bitrate, or accept significantly degraded performance. This project develops technologies that approach optimal performance despite constraints on latency, complexity and bit rate, by effectively exploiting temporal redundancies in all periodic components of polyphonic audio signals. Specifically, the coding paradigm builds on the novel technique of cascaded long term prediction, which enables joint prediction of all periodic components in the mixture, at low delay. This prediction approach is complemented by the development of powerful low-complexity parameter estimation techniques to minimize resource requirements, effective adaptation to fundamental frequency changes, side information optimization to minimize bitrate costs, practical redesign of all coder modules to fully exploit the prediction capabilities, and enhanced error-resilience for streaming over lossy packet networks.
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INNOVEIN, INC
SBIR Phase I: Venous Valve Prosthesis as a Cure for Chronic Venous Insufficiency
Contact
1100 Industrial Road Suite 16
San Carlos, CA 94070–4131
NSF Award
1722221 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of a much-needed novel prosthetic valve that will provide a potential treatment option for the millions of U.S. patients suffering from chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). As people age, valves in the veins of their legs begin to function poorly. This allows blood to build up in the ankles due to gravity, leading to pain/swelling of the feet, skin discoloration, and ultimately open wounds by the ankles. As there is no approved venous valve on the market, current treatment consists of palliative options such as wound care and skin grafts. These treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars per patient for non-healing venous stasis ulcers. The proposed technology will work to treat CVI while mitigating complications associated with prior attempts at valve prostheses, including formation of blood clots and valve breakdown. The approach described leverages a minimally invasive approach, averting costly expenditure and offering an up to 40% reduction in the cost of care in the first year of treatment. The proposed project aims to develop a novel prosthetic valve technology to treat incompetent veins by targeting the underlying cause of the disease. In order to successfully progress on the path to commercialization, it is necessary to validate technologies such as this on the bench and in long-term animal trials. These steps provide the foundation for future clinical trials and ultimately use in the broader population. The objectives are to build the device, compare iterations on the bench, and validate the technology in animals. We anticipate selecting an iteration and having successful animal results. The proposed project will allow for further validation of safety and function of the described approach and progress on the path to commercialization.
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ISCA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
SBIR Phase I: Enlisting Adult Mosquitoes to Combat Mosquito-Borne Diseases
Contact
1230 W Spring St
Riverside, CA 92507–1309
NSF Award
1648402 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/15/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be to develop an effective new mosquito control product that works against both adult and immature vectors, drastically reducing the size of the vector population without reliance on conventional insecticides. It will consist of two components: a potent plant-derived attractant to lure adult vector mosquitoes and an insect development disruptor that locks larvae in a permanent state of immaturity, eventually resulting in death, and also renders exposed adults infertile. This product will reduce the impacts of mosquito-borne illnesses around the world, and reduce environmental contamination by cover sprays of hazardous conventional pesticides. This strategy could revolutionize area-wide mosquito control programs: by inducing a large proportion of mosquitoes within the target population to act as their own delivery mechanism for the control agent, the proposed product substantially increases the effective size of the treated area, making it operationally viable to effectively treat every larval habitat and adult resting site, even in urban areas with an overwhelming abundance of potential habitats. Because this product attracts and contaminates all key species of mosquitoes, it will become an invaluable tool for the $16B/yr global vector control market. The technical objectives in this Phase I project are designed to demonstrate feasibility of an auto-dissemination strategy to control mosquito populations via three mechanisms: 1) exposure to the formulation containing the disruptor sterilizes adults; 2) larval breeding sites contaminated by the disruptor during adult visits will produce no viable offspring; and 3) the disruptor passed between adults during interactions (mating) increases the proportion of sterile individuals in the population and unproductive larval habitats in the treated area. By manipulating mosquitoes to deliver the control agent to their own offspring and restricting the reproductive capacity of the adult population, this project will help to overcome the long historical prejudice in favor of adult-targeting chemical insecticides by demonstrating that larval-targeted measures can be used to suppress vector populations at reasonable cost, renewing scientific and commercial interest in such alternative strategies. To demonstrate feasibility of this approach, Phase I research will focus on evaluating the effects of the formulation on vector mosquitoes when exposure occurs through contact and/or ingestion; determining the capacity of female mosquitoes to deliver the formulation to larval habitats; and finally, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed auto-dissemination strategy in reducing vector populations in an endemic field setting.
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Imagen Energy, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Extremely Compact, High Efficiency, Integrated Converter and Energy Storage System
Contact
15230 W. Woodland Dr.
New Berlin, WI 53151–1915
NSF Award
1648083 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,906
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to enable vast deployment of energy storage to increase installation of renewable energy for reduced pollution and greenhouse gases, to improve energy security, and to improve energy efficiency and safety. The project will realize a dramatic reduction in cost and size of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) that will allow penetration of ESS into markets served by fossil fuels. One key market is grid ancillary services which includes Frequency Regulation (FR) that regulates grid frequency and stability. With the potential of this project, the FR market for battery based ESS is expected to grow from $100M/yr to over $4B/yr. This project has the societal benefits of replacing fossil fuel based ?peaker? plants that are commonly used to perform FR, with clean Li-ion battery based ESS. Furthermore, by providing lower cost FR capability for the grid, the project will enable grid penetration of more renewable energy, which requires additional FR capability. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 project will develop a highly compact integrated modular inverter/energy storage system to revolutionize deployment of energy storage system for grid, micro-grid, energy efficiency, and energy reliability support. The development effort proposed here includes an advanced energy storage system consisting of an extremely compact 150kW high frequency 3-Level inverter, an integrated 48kWhr compact Li-ion battery system, proprietary battery management systems and internet communications capability. This will provide a highly integrated and scalable 150kW Energy Storage System with an integrated battery string inverter with 60% reduced system cost and 10X reduced size that open new markets for energy storage and renewable energy. The project will develop key technology innovations which work together with advanced Li-ion batteries to form a revolutionary new product. These innovations include: high frequency 3-level inverter with innovative high frequency control and output filter to achieve >10X reduction in volume; a novel topology that integrates inverters into each cell string and eliminates many components resulting in 60% system cost reduction; a modular and scalable design that is fault-tolerant and allows easy optimization for multiple system uses.
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Impedx Diagnostics
SBIR Phase I: Low cost portable system for the rapid detection and drug resistance profiling of Tuberculosis
Contact
8318 W 102nd Street
Overland Park, KS 66212–3420
NSF Award
1647216 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 01/31/2018
Abstract
This Phase I SBIR project is directed at developing a portable, sensitive, and affordable device to detect M. tuberculosis (Mtb) in sputum samples and simultaneously determine the multidrug resistance profile of the pathogen, all within 3 days of sputum collection (It takes more than 6 weeks using current technology). By significantly reducing the time to detect viable Mtb and obtain its drug resistance profile in patient specimens, the device being developed promises to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public-health challenges in the world today, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths in 2013. More alarmingly, the incidence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB is rapidly increasing, especially in low resource environments. Being able to detect the presence of low loads of mycobacteria and gaining knowledge about the drug resistance profile of a particular isolate in 3 days will be a game changer in global community?s efforts to combat the spread of TB (esp. MDR TB). It will lead to better outcomes for patients (less mortality, quicker recovery), and also better public health (less transmission to others and less fostering of drug resistance in populations). The device being developed incorporates two key technologies that enable it to achieve rapid detection and drug-resistance profiling: (1) super-paramagnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) functionalized with moieties that bind to bacterial cells, and (2) microchannel Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (m-EIS) that is able to detect in real time the growth or death of cells in suspension. The proposed approach involves (a) using MNPs to collect the ~1000 Mtb cells present in 2-10ml of sputum sample into a small (200ul) of growth medium during the standard decontamination process (b) dispensing the 200ul suspension into 16 microwells, each containing different formulations of freeze-dried growth-media and/or drugs of interest (c) monitoring the cells in each well m-EIS. The pre-concentration will take <1 hour, and the monitoring of death/growth/stasis will take 3 days. In Phase I, the team will (1) verify the efficacy of the pre-concentration technique, (2) establish the ability of the m-EIS method to record in real time the death, proliferation, or statis of mycobacteria, and (3) design a prototype cassette containing 16 wells, and fabricating it using 3D-printing (stereolithography). In addition, a detailed design (electrical, mechanical and fluidic) of the automated system (disposables and nondisposable hardware) to be built in Phase II will be completed, and other applications of the core approach explored.
Errata
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Addenda
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Influit Energy LLC
SBIR Phase I: High energy density, low cost, nano-enabled aqueous flow battery suitable for transportation applications
Contact
2312 W. Warren Blvd
Chicago, IL 60612–2234
NSF Award
1648092 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project is to develop and demonstrate novel nanotechnology based flow battery that meets demanding 2020 energy density targets for transportation and stationary storage and offers a cheaper, safer and environmentally friendly rechargeable energy-storing fluid, which could ultimately allow using batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) in the same fashion as gasoline-powered engines. The proposed innovative approach uses advancements in nanotechnology to merge solid battery chemistries into a convenient flowable format (nanoelectrofuels or NEF). The low cost and high energy density of the proposed flow batteries (up to 350 Wh/L) makes this technology highly competitive with currently used Li-ion batteries (250 Wh/L), while the flowable format enables charging the liquid in one device and use of energy in a separate device, offering new refueling opportunities for EV operations, specifically addressing range anxiety and long charging time - issues currently preventing widespread adoption of EVs. From the commercial perspective the successful development of the proposed low cost high energy density aqueous flow battery could be transformational for electrification of personal and commercial transportation, grid leveling, and integration of renewable energy sources into our individual energy usage for a climate-friendly, environmentally and economically sustainable future. In this project novel low-cost, high energy density rechargeable liquids that feature active energy storing materials in pumpable low viscosity aqueous nanosuspension (NEF) will be demonstrated in a full flow cell reactor (Phase I). The challenge of achieving electroactive suspensions with high solid loading and low viscosity is addressed by changing the surface chemistry of nanoparticles and based on the patented surface modification approach which enables high dispersibility of nanoparticles in fluids and their ability to more efficiently transport and store electrical energy. Innovation in flow cell designs are also proposed for effective battery operations with this new energy storage format. Demonstration of this technology in a full flow cell will significantly de-risk further commercialization efforts for this transformational technology and will enable highly versatile, interchangeable and rechargeable liquids for electrical energy storage solutions. The main outcome of this project (Phase II) will be the prototype of NEF flow battery with design geared towards the first market - light electric utility vehicles (EUVs, $1.3 B market in US) that currently use Pb-acid batteries. For the same volume and 25% lower price per kWh the NEF battery offers ~3 times the energy storage and the additional ability of rapid charge replenishment through active material (NEF) replacement.
Errata
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Addenda
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InkSpace Imaging, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Evaluation of screen-printing as a manufacturing technique for MRI coils
Contact
279 Rheem Boulevard
Moraga, CA 94556–1540
NSF Award
1722130 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,980
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project tackles the key challenges of using screen-printing to manufacture receive coils for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at a commercial scale. MRI is widely used to establish a broad variety of clinical diagnosis, but suffers from long exam times and a high rate of failure, resulting in high costs. Printed receive coils are flexible, lightweight, conform well to the human body and can be manufactured at an order of magnitude lower costs. With this technology, coils can be designed and printed to fit all patient anatomy, therefore improving image quality and offering superior comfort. These technology offers the potential to increase success rate of MRI exams, speed up procedure time and to enhance clinical workflow. Printed coils will have an impact on the accessibility to MRI, serving a more diverse patient population, such as pediatric and bariatric patients, who currently have limited access to this imaging modality, due to the lack of adequate coils. Overall, this project aims at enabling the fabrication of printed coils, thus contributing to reduce health care costs associated with MRI while significantly improving the quality of patient care. This SBIR Phase I project investigates critical aspects of characterization of screen-printing MRI coil arrays for clinical use. We have shown that printed and flexible MRI arrays provide diagnostic images, while providing better fit and comfort to patients. Printing electronic materials is a novel manufacturing approach which is used here to fabricate these medical devices. Our goal is to provide coils with size and design customized for the diverse anatomy of patients. In this proposed program, we will evaluate the reproducibility of printing, design strategies and the robustness and lifetime of printed coil arrays. Coil size and geometry have a direct impact on image quality and body coverage. We will study the fundamental limits of coil size and geometry when fabricated using solution processed conductors with lower conductivity than conventional metals. The variations in measured signal-to-noise-ratio and image quality from print to print will be characterized and documented in order to provide a successful model for large-scale and low-cost manufacturing of coil arrays. Finally, the robustness of printed arrays will be tested. The packaging used in our designs are significantly different from the status-quo. Lifetime quantification for arrays used in clinical scenarios is important for a successful business plan.
Errata
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Addenda
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Inkbit LLC
SBIR Phase I: Multi-Material 3D Printing of Personalized Medical Simulation Models
Contact
92 Magazine St
Cambridge, MA 02139–3926
NSF Award
1722000 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will develop the necessary technology and manufacturing workflows to provide medical professionals with extremely realistic physical models of tissues and organs. The models will be manufactured rapidly (within a few hours), inexpensively, and on-demand. They will be patient-specific based on the patient?s CT and MRI scan data. This will have profound implications on the planning of complex medical procedures such as tumor removal and will enable medical professionals and their teams to practice patient-specific surgical scenarios. This will improve surgical outcome, generate efficiencies in the operating room and decrease medical errors which, by some accounts, are the third largest cause of death in the United States. The ability to 3D print realistic human organ models will also provide medical students with a way to practice medical procedures with a wide degree of diversity. This will accelerate the learning rate and expand the breadth of training experiences. Similarly, the models will provide a way for medical professionals to practice rare, high-risk procedures on-demand. The proposed 3D models will become a central part of the medical simulation toolbox and will enable a new generation of surgical planning and education. The ability to manufacture extremely realistic physical models rapidly, inexpensively, and on-demand relies on a novel multimaterial additive manufacturing process with a closed-feedback loop enabled by machine vision. This new process manufactures objects layer by layer, each layer made from a discrete set of elements, where each element is built from one material from a pallette of materials. The use of the closed-feedback loop system allows incorporating both liquids and solids with a wide range of mechanical and appearance properties. The development of a material palette that is necessary to mimic properties of real tissues will be a crucial part of the project. This material palette will be expanded by spatially combining base materials into composite structures. The second main thrust of the project relies on a software design workflow that translates geometric and material specifications describing a simulation model (e.g., an organ or a tissue) into multimaterial volumetric data. The volumetric data will be used as input to the multimaterial printing platform. The new design workflow requires development of modeling approaches that go beyond traditional, boundary-based CAD representations.
Errata
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Addenda
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InnoCit LLC
SBIR Phase I: Wide Bandgap Technology for Solar String Inverters
Contact
312 Pebblestone Ln
Rolla, MO 65401–8060
NSF Award
1721892 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to make solar generation more efficient and more affordable. Consequently, it promotes a safer and greener environment. The proposed approach is novel and has the potential to revolutionize solar generation. Therefore, it gives the U.S. a technological and commercial competitive edge in the global renewable energy market. Also, this project will expose interns to discovery-based exercises and will train them to work on the design and development of solar PV energy systems. In an attempt to diversify the workforce in the solar energy market, students from minority and underrepresented groups will be encouraged to engage in the research activities of this project. This project also fosters potential research collaborations and communications between small businesses, universities, and research institutions. Consequently, the project will enhance infrastructure for research and education. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes using GaN devices in string solar inverters. The innovative aspect of this work is threefold. i) Wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices will be used in this effort. ii) The proposed circuit topology is a novel inverter which utilizes coupled inductors to cancel the current ripples induced on the input and output sides of the converter. iii) The proposed inverter acts as a synthetic frequency response reserve to improve the frequency stability of its local grid. The proposed circuit topology is creative and allows for significant reduction in the size of the filtering elements. Hence, the overall weight, volume, and cost of this solar inverter are lower than its predecessors.
Errata
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Addenda
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Innotronics LLC
SBIR Phase I: Prototype Non-Contacting Piston Position Sensors for Fluid Power Actuators
Contact
6213 Saint Croix Trl N Apt 212
Stillwater, MN 55082–6968
NSF Award
1720889 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes the development and demonstration of a prototype position sensor that will help convert hydraulic and pneumatic actuators into ?smart? devices. The position sensor will enable built-in self-diagnostics, precise feedback control, energy efficient operation, faster industrial manufacturing and material handling processes, and safer operations on mobile vehicles that take locations of obstacles and danger zones automatically into account during motion. The value proposition of the new sensor comes from its lower cost, ease of installation, and its non-contacting operation. This project will help a start-up company demonstrate the performance of its sensor on multiple actuator products provided by large industrial and off-road mobile companies. This is expected to result in establishing the viability of the sensor, customer orders for the sensor, and growth in company revenues. The technology area addressed by the research in this project is smart sensors and the targeted market sector is industrial machines and off-road agriculture and construction vehicles. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a prototype position sensor that is production-ready and ready for field testing in real-world industrial and mobile vehicle applications. The sensor utilizes a large-distance magnetic field model, redundant magnetic sensors on a single sensor board and adaptive estimation algorithms to provide a novel position sensor that is small, non-intrusive, non-contacting, easy to install and lower cost compared to other position sensors on the market. The innovations in the sensor technology being developed include the use of a nonlinear estimation algorithm that avoids differentiation of complex nonlinear functions, provides more accuracy and is computationally efficient for implementation on a microprocessor. The sensor also includes an auto-calibration algorithm that corrects for sensor location and orientation errors so as to ensure accurate performance with changing cylinders. The research project will demonstrate the performance of the sensor prototype in the lab on multiple actuators provided by collaborating large industrial and off-road vehicle companies.
Errata
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Addenda
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Innovalgae
STTR Phase I: Passive, Low-Energy Technology for Extracting High-Value Products from Algae
Contact
5205 Teakwood Ct.
Pittsburgh, PA 15209–1080
NSF Award
1549801 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,835
Start / end date
01/15/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project is to commercialize technology to extract high-value components (e.g., omegea3 fatty acids) from algae. Omega3 fatty acids are an essential part of the human diet and are sourced primarily from fish oil; the fish actually get Omega3 from eating algae. Algae present a direct source. However, the high cost of extracting the Omega3 fatty acids from the algae, which represents about 50% of the production cost, is a significant cost hurdle that needs to be overcome. This project seeks to develop and commercialize a novel algae oil extraction technology to reduce the production cost of high-value products such as Omega 3 fatty acids from algae. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to build an algal oil extraction system and demonstrate low-energy extraction configurations suitable for extracting high-value components from algae for nutraceuticals. The project will employ its proprietary computer models, based on Carnegie Mellon University research to develop a system to economically extract the oil from algae. This work will be accomplished through the following research objectives. First, specific strain(s) of algae will have their material response evaluated to assess their release thresholds. Secondly, models will inform and/or guide the extraction technology development so that the extraction process is optimized for a particular algae strain. Third, a low-energy extraction system will be built and tested with the goal of providing a system that can lead to a low cost economical way of extracting high value products such as Omega3 fatty acids from algae.
Errata
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Addenda
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Innovas Technologies LLC
SBIR Phase I: Smart Diagnostic Cleaning/Sensor Balls for Use in Heat-Exchanger Monitoring and Maintenance
Contact
2261 Crosspark Rd. Suite 31
Coralville, IA 52241–1000
NSF Award
1647586 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project lies in the creation and test of a submersible micro mobile-sensor platform intended to measure fluid flow rates and precise temperatures inside shell-and-tube heat-exchangers. This research will empower follow-on capability for tube health and vibration measurement, creating the potential to save millions per employing facility by preventing unplanned shutdowns, achieving new efficiency gains and enabling mobile fault detection and isolation sensing related to shell-and-tube heat exchange. Economically, shell-and-tube heat exchange fouling and unplanned maintenance has been estimated to cost in excess of 0.5% of the United States? entire Gross Domestic Product?translating to over $80 Billion annually in wasted expense. The long-term goal of this research is to reduce or even eliminate this societal expense in the years to come, providing reduced power costs to consumers, a cleaner environment, and better financial performance for the user. As another key benefit, this research will provide a springboard for other later applications and developments focused on preventing wasteful water leakage in large pipe structures and buildings and will potentially reduce the amount of chemical usage in water-treatment systems. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address problems associated with shell-and-tube heat exchange failure due to wear, vibration and fouling. Shell-and-tube heat exchange is a core element of the United States economy, and fouling-related damage, wear and process shutdowns cost the economy tens of billions annually. This research project aims to establish the feasibility of developing miniature submersible sensors that detect developing failures in heat-exchange systems in advance to entirely prevent the ultimate failures that now occur. The research has the intended result of integrating micro-sensor tools into a small condenser cleaning ball with the initial objectives of sensing in-tube temperature and velocity data, determining the exact tube location of the sensor ball, developing continuous heat-transfer characteristics to better predict efficiency effects, and?importantly?to develop a platform for future integration of sensors that add new sensing capabilities. As envisioned, this work will result in the development/operation of the first ever sub-1-inch-dia submersible sensor ball that can autonomously measure velocity and temperature inside shell-and-tube heat-exchangers along with precise tube location determination of the ball inside the system for accurate, location-specific measurements.
Errata
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Addenda
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Innovative Elements, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Arthroscopy Delivered Scaffolds to Repair and Regenerate Meniscus for Aging Patients
Contact
560 Sylvan Ave Suite 3160
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632–3179
NSF Award
1648039 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to prevent or reduce the high risk of post-meniscectomy osteoarthritis (OA) following partial meniscectomy which is a popular treatment for meniscus tears. Meniscus tears represent common lesions injuries prevailing in ~36% of people with ages at and greater than 45 years old, but with few effective treatments. Meniscectomy is performed to temporarily relieve the severe pain and other symptoms associated with meniscus tears. Over one million patients undergo meniscectomy to palliate painful symptoms associating torn meniscus each year in the U.S. The drawback of meniscectomy is significant increases of incidence of osteoarthritis (OA) later in life (by as high as 7 folds), because loss of meniscus causes altered load transmission, decreased shock absorption, and decreased joint stability and increased joint cartilage contact stress. Post-meniscectomy osteoarthritis (OA) is well documented in literatures. OA is more challenging to treat and incur more costly expenditures and causes more severe physical sufferings for patients. There is urgent need for effective treatment for meniscus tears while reducing or preventing the poste-meniscectomy risks. The proposed project could, if successful, potentially address the unmet clinical need by developing a device precisely repairing and regenerating the torn meniscus and restoring the biomechanical functionality. No existing knowledge teaches how an aging joint environment may affect the meniscal repair and regeneration, and neither the applicants? previous study can tell how their new device may perform in the aging joints; both scientific evidence and necessary technical solutions are unclear yet. The present Phase I study will: 1) determine the delivery strategy to stimulate reparative stem cells in aging knees, and 2) determine the delivery strategy under additional inflammatory stress, using in vitro evaluation models. The study serves as a critical step of proof-of-concept for future translation of the technology into a clinical application.
Errata
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Addenda
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Inscent, Inc
SBIR Phase I: A Paradigm Shift in Vector Control: Targeted Larvicides
Contact
17905 Sky Park Circle
Irvine, CA 92614–6387
NSF Award
1648530 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be a significant improvement in the control of dangerous mosquitoes that transmit serious diseases to humans, including Zika fever, malaria, encephalitis, chikungunya, and dengue fever. This project will generate a novel larvicide directed against the larvae of harmful mosquitoes that live in water. The larvicide is combined with an efficient lure to generate effective bait-and-kill stations that will target only harmful mosquito species. An efficient, inexpensive, safe product to kill mosquito larvae will improve public health since it will greatly reduce the number of adult mosquitoes capable of infecting humans with diseases. The product will protect non-target species and will not contaminate the water with toxins. This project incorporates several new technologies that are also applicable to the future control of other insect pest species, including a novel design system to produce lures that attract mosquito larvae to bait stations, a new method to kill insect larvae while leaving other species unharmed, and a new method to package the control product. The product and the methods discussed are new, address unmet health and safety needs in several countries, and are expected to have widespread market appeal. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are focused on providing novel attractants for the aquatic larvae of Aedes aegypti and other harmful mosquitos, and combining these lures with a novel larvicide that will eradicate the targeted larvae without contaminating the water column with insecticide or harming non-target species. The mosquito?s range is expanding and traditional control methods are becoming problematic. An effective bait-and-kill device would avoid the wide dispersal of broad-range insecticides and protect the environment, beneficial species, and humans. However, this device requires an efficient attractant to selectively lure mosquito larvae and an effectual, yet selective, larvicide that will not harm non-target species or contaminate the water. These are therefore the foci of this project. This project incorporates several novel approaches to develop a microencapsulated nanoparticle that will function as a targeted larvicide. To achieve the stated goals, compounds that strongly attract mosquito larvae will be combined with a nonpoisonous polymer larvicide that is active only uponingestion by the larvae. The anticipated end product is a bait-and-kill device for A. aegypti larvae that would allow a shift away from broad-spectrum insecticides to a more targeted, responsible control methodology. The platform technologies are applicable to other species in the future.
Errata
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Addenda
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Inspirit IoT, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Efficient Custom Platforms for Smart Computer Vision in the Internet of Things
Contact
2510 Hallbeck Dr.
Champaign, IL 61822–6879
NSF Award
1648023 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
02/01/2017 – 01/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will result in a significant improvement in the performance, power, and cost of deploying smart computer vision applications. This improvement will simplify the deployment of smart vision applications in automotive, sports and entertainment, consumer, robotics and machine vision, medical, and security/surveillance domains. Through a unique and energy-efficient hardware computation platform, automated hardware design for machine learning applications, and efficient implementation libraries, this project will improve both the feature set and efficiency of smart vision applications across a wide range of end-use cases. With the rapid growth in smart vision applications, this project will be a key enabling technology to support high-performance, energy efficient and scalable solutions. Internet of Things (IoT) applications promise to produce billions in revenue and trillions in global economic impact through improved efficiency, safety, energy, and labor costs. Wide deployment of customized computing in IoT applications will lead to substantial energy savings, and a corresponding reduction in carbon emissions, and a more sustainable growth model for deployment of intelligent sensor systems with thousands or millions of sensor nodes analyzing large volumes of input data. The proposed project focuses on the design of high performance, energy-efficient IoT computer vision platforms, design tools, and implementation libraries. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are an attractive design and implementation platform to meet performance and energy goals; however, there are two main challenges to their adoption (1) small FPGAs are cost-effective but insufficient to replace the efficient, low-cost ASICs for computation-demanding applications; large FPGAs can fulfill all computation demands, but are too expensive to meet IoT price points, and (2) design and development for FPGAs is challenging and require hardware design expertise. This project?s innovation targets these challenges. First, our proposed platform will combine a media ASIC for efficient video processing with a small cost-effective FPGA for custom machine learning. Second, our proposed domain specific high level synthesis will generate efficient machine learning accelerators for standard machine learning infrastructures quickly, limiting required hardware design expertise while out-performing general purpose design techniques. This project will leverage background expertise in hardware design, design tools, and machine learning to develop and demonstrate the advantages of hybrid computation platforms for smart vision applications in terms of performance, energy consumption, cost and physical size.
Errata
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Integra Devices
SBIR Phase I: IoT2:IoT Energy and Power Systems
Contact
2618 San Miguel Dr STE 381
Newport Beach, CA 92660–5437
NSF Award
1722404 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,319
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to demonstrate a new way of integrating energy harvesting technologies in standard electronic circuits. This offers the opportunity to produce small sensors and devices in remote locations that can collect information, monitor conditions, and transmit data without the need to replace batteries. Small batteries are unsuitable for electronics that are remotely deployed, driving interest to harvest electrical energy directly from the movement and vibration of machinery. Currently, energy harvesting is too large, expensive, and inefficient for practical deployment. If energy harvesting can be made small and inexpensive, it can enable a large suite of products and services for industrial, civil, and agricultural remote monitoring. This project offers the potential to bring energy harvesting to electronics in a way that allows highly efficient energy conversion from vibrating or moving machinery, while maintaining small size and low cost. The ability to embed tiny moving parts directly within printed circuits is highly innovative, and dynamic energy harvesting is an excellent application of this technology. The patented manufacturing processes can be performed using domestic electronics manufacturing infrastructure helping to bring next-generation manufacturing to the U.S. The proposed project seeks to demonstrate a new way to embed dynamic energy harvesting devices directly within printed circuit boards, enabling micro energy production at low cost and small size. The project builds on patented manufacturing processes that leverages conventional electronics manufacturing infrastructure?devices can be built having feature sizes in microns without the need for expensive silicon fabrication foundries. The project will explore designs and fabrication processes for small, efficient vibrating units, culminating in the production of multiple devices in a single small footprint circuit board. Significant effort will be on the development of small, efficient vibrating units that can be manufactured cheaply and in large quantities, yet embedded directly within printed circuits. Three manufacturing rounds are anticipated, producing real devices that can be experimentally tested and measured. The successful completion of this project will demonstrate electrical energy production in a small printed circuit board (approximately the size of a credit card), targeting 100 microwatts to power sensing and telemetry electronics.
Errata
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Integrated Construction Ent., Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Painting and Overspray Capture System
Contact
259 Stephens Street
Belleville, NJ 07109–3217
NSF Award
1648288 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project focused on an automated painting and overspray capture system is a significant increase in the health/safety of construction workers and profitability/production efficiency of the construction industry. Painting workers suffer from increased short and long term health problems due to exposure to paint fumes, including increased potential for certain cancers and cognitive damage. Construction projects are delayed due to injuries, lack of available skilled labor, and prohibitive costs. A system that can eliminate major health and safety risks by capturing harmful fumes as well as increase productivity by autonomously working alongside skilled workers will have a significant positive impact on the construction industry and workers. This innovation could open the construction industry up to myriads of intelligent, autonomous solutions that improve health, safety, quality, and production. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will work to establishing the technical and commercial feasibility of an automated system to paint and capture overspray. The SBIR project will focus on the device responsible for directing paint from the spraying apparatus to the surface to be painted and containment of overspray and harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The health hazards of paint fumes and airborne VOCs are apparent through the increased risk of certain cancers and long-term cognitive damage suffered by painters. Additionally, painting at heights on ladders or other lift equipment presents a safety and efficiency problem. The research objectives of this SBIR are to develop a system that can effectively contain overspray/paint fumes while being small/lightweight enough for use by a robotic platform. Extensive flow analysis will be conducted with experimental geometry and flow visualization techniques on benchtop test rigs to evaluate geometry and flow characteristics. Successful benchtop test designs will be further tested on a robotic platform to evaluate system-level performance for paint quality, over spray containment, and airborne VOCs.
Errata
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Integrated Medical Sensors
SBIR Phase I: A miniaturized, low-cost, implantable wireless glucose sensor technology for Diabetes management
Contact
73 Overbrook
Irvine, CA 92620–2178
NSF Award
1621991 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,900
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the development of a novel, real-time biomedical sensing platform that can revolutionize personal health and clinical research. Chronic diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, etc.) are the leading causes of death and disability in US. Diabetes alone affects more than 29 million people in US, resulting in $245B annual health care cost. Disease management requires a long-term and reliable body metabolite monitoring system. The proposed wireless sensing technology will address this need by providing low-cost, minimally invasive, subdermal sensing of interstitial fluid (ISF) constituents using a novel mm-size integrated system utilizing scalable microelectronics fabrication technology. The proposed development effort will allow the use of this technology to wireless sensing applications in medical research (drugs/diseases) and connected or digital health. Currently, diabetes patients rely on painful and discrete fingerstick measurements or expensive (>$4k/year) and short-lived (7 days) transcutaneous devices for glucose monitoring. A low-cost (<$500/year), pain free, reliable and accurate glucose monitor will have a broad commercial impact by providing a solution suitable to a diverse set of patients as well as clinicians and researchers. The proposed project will result in a truly "user-independent" operation of implantable glucose sensors, rendering competitive market edge and job creation. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is intended to develop a wireless monolithic sensing platform that combines sensing, control, autonomous powering, and communication on a single mm-size microchip implant. The extremely small device size minimizes foreign body response and results in a stable sensor-tissue, allowing for much longer and stable operation compared to current devices. The device utilizes wireless operation using industry standard technologies, simplifying system development and integration. The sensor is fabricated on the semiconductor platform to form a fully integrated system and avoid expensive wiring and packaging. The scalable nature of the semiconductor technology enhances manufacturability, reduces unit cost in volume production, and ensures the availability of high volume manufacturing. Phase-I seeks to develop the integrated sensor solution in a needle-shape form and provide appropriate insertion/extraction device as a proof-of-concept to allow for a small-scale animal study to characterize the functionality of the system. It is also proposed to test the feasibility of achieving performance goals (in-vitro MARD, stable in-vivo operation longer than state-of-the-art CGM devices, determination of in-vivo MARD) using the proposed system. After successful feasibility phase, we will optimize the system performance and move to FDA IDE filing for clinical trials needed for commercialization, during Phase II.
Errata
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Integrated Protein Technologies, Inc
STTR Phase I: SampleStream: A Sample Preparation Platform for Biologics
Contact
2749 Woodbine Ave
Evanston, IL 60201–1564
NSF Award
1721594 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,218
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This STTR Phase I projects aims to address major limitations in the analysis of pharmaceuticals that are based on proteins, a group of therapeutics known as biologics. Current methods for sample preparation and analysis of these drugs require highly trained staff and expensive equipment to execute the multitude of different analytical approaches that are employed to characterize these molecules. Both personnel and equipment costs combine to limit the number of drug candidates evaluated by pharma companies, makes it more difficult for regulatory agencies to reproduce data provided in applications and makes it difficult to identify counterfeit drugs. The company aims to address this issue by creating a highly flexible sample preparation device based on a fluidic channel that operates at reduced pressure. Proteins trapped within the channel can undergo digestion, reduction, alkylation and other common sample preparation procedures in an unattended and automated fashion. Subsequently, prepared samples may be eluted at high concentration, ready for downstream analysis. By dramatically reducing the equipment costs and reducing the required expertise for sample preparation, the company?s technology will have a large impact on the number of drug candidates that are evaluated by pharma companies, it will make it easier for regulatory agencies to reproduce data provided by manufacturers, and it will improve their ability to detect counterfeit drugs. All of these benefits will result in more and cheaper biologics making it to the market, ultimately improving the health and wellness of the populace. The company?s device combines concepts of diafiltration, asymmetric flow field flow fractionation and filter assisted sample preparation to create an automated sample preparation platform that avoids the use of robotics. By avoiding robotics and high pressure, the platform can operate with increased robustness and dramatically reduced cost. The proposed research aims to demonstrate the ability of the device to perform common sample preparation steps, such as reduction/denaturation, digestion, and deglycosylation and assess issues of reproducibility, reliability and carryover. While many of the workflows described herein have been demonstrated in molecular weight cutoff filters, implementation of these within a fluidic channel will directly advance the company?s understanding of the mechanisms of loss in sample preparation, provide a refined estimate of the cost savings that might be achieved in real world applications, and improve our understanding of transport for small molecules across these membranes.
Errata
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Ionic Windows LLC
SBIR Phase I: Nanostructured Ceramics Membranes for Redox Flow Batteries with Superior Performance and Low Cost
Contact
2627 W Plymouth St
Seattle, WA 98199–4124
NSF Award
1648517 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project seeks to develop a novel low-cost molecular filter for use in harsh environments. This is accomplished using commodity silica gel, commonly found as a desiccant in food packing, whose pores can be made to be only a few molecules wide. Accurate tuning of the size and shape of the silica gel pores enables certain molecules to pass through while others are block from passing. One promising application for these molecular filters is their use in grid-scale energy storage. Flow batteries have the ability to store city-sized quantities of renewable energy. However, they require the use of expensive molecular filters that are not easily replaced due to the harsh battery environments. The low-cost filters developed during this SBIR Phase I project have the potential to reduce the cost of flow batteries by as much as 30%. Lower cost grid-scale storage means that more renewable energy generation (e.g., solar & wind) can be added without overwhelming the grid. Low cost molecular filter also have commercial upside with the potential to capture a $1.3 billion dollar market. Because of this, this project is expected to generate nearly 20 jobs and $79 million dollars in tax revenue over the next 5 years. This SBIR Phase 1 Project is developing a molecularly selective sol-gel ceramic membrane that does not require calcination or high polymer loading but also does not fracture during compression in stack applications (e.g., fuel cells and flow batteries). This is accomplished by decoupling the selective region from the region of the membrane being compresses by the stack. These membranes will be utilized to improve the performance and reduce the costs of all-vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB). These membranes require selective transport of hydronium ions but not vanadium ions. Size exclusion membranes must therefore have tight control over the pore size and size distribution, shape and network structure in order to selectively transport ions. Towards this end, sol-gel processing and surface chemistry modification will be utilized to maximize proton conductivity and limit vanadium ion permeability. Optimized membrane formulations must also have excellent chemical and mechanical stability; showing no degradation after hundreds of VRFB cycles. Finally, membranes must be scaled from lab size (1 cm2) to commercial size (630 cm2) while maintaining performance uniformity. The low-cost membranes developed during this SBIR Phase I project have the potential to reduce the cost of VRFBs by as much as 30%. Lower cost grid-scale storage means that more renewable energy generation (e.g., solar & wind) can be added without overwhelming the grid.
Errata
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Ipsum Nano, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Carbide-derived Carbon Adsorbents for Ammonia Filtration
Contact
648 Cresthill Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30306–3640
NSF Award
1648323 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to improve respiratory protection against ammonia by using novel carbide-derived carbons (CDCs). The outcome of this project will improve the safety and health for industrial workers, firefighters, and first responders that encounter ammonia in industrial settings and emergency situations. Current respiratory protection gas masks attempt to prevent users from breathing ammonia by trapping the toxic gas on an adsorbent material. Adsorbents on the market provide limited protection time against ammonia due to poor attractive forces between the adsorbent and ammonia. CDCs overcome these limitations through a new synthesis procedure that creates ammonia-specific active sites within its structure to bind and trap ammonia. Research on these materials will unlock the tools and methods necessary to tailor these adsorbents to other toxic gases. The proposed R&D activities address a commercial opportunity within the respiratory protection market estimated to be a $6 billion market globally, and $2.4 billion market in the U.S. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to synthesize CDCs that can be easily integrated within a filter cartridge and to provide an order of magnitude increase in protection time against ammonia compared to current materials. CDCs have promising performance and an enormous amount of research activity has been devoted to the synthesis and characterization of CDCs for adsorptive applications. However, to date, no commercial adsorptive applications of these materials exist. This situation exists in part because insufficient attention has been paid to the integration of selective gas adsorption sites, control of particle size, and hydrothermal stability, all of which are key technical hurdles that will be addressed in this project. This goal will be accomplished by synthesizing and testing granular CDCs for selective adsorption of ammonia from air, integrating further ammonia-specific active sites via post-synthesis modification techniques, and evaluating hydrodynamic and thermal stability of CDCs through cyclical stability testing methods. The results from this project will significantly further our understanding of CDCs in terms of large particle size synthesis, long term stability, and tailored active sites for gas capture. The anticipated results would significantly further CDCs for ammonia filtration and other commercial separations applications.
Errata
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Ironic Chemicals LLC
STTR Phase I: Using mining waste as a feedstock for the production of chemicals from CO2 with genetically engineered Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
Contact
252 Old Oaks Rd
Fairfield, CT 06825–1932
NSF Award
1648889 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project is the development of technology for use of sulfide mining waste streams as a novel energy source for the production of chemicals from CO2. Sulfide mining wastes pose a serious, perpetual environmental risk, and are continuously generated as by-products of mining operations. The sulfide minerals in mining waste also are viable energy source for a diverse community of microbes that derive their energy from the oxidation of these minerals. This biological oxidation releases significant amounts of energy from the rock. The energy released from one ton of sulfide mining waste is approximately equivalent to one barrel of oil. Approximately 95% of copper ores are found in sulfide-rich ore deposits and at about 20 million metric tons annually, constitute ~15% of mining waste (representing millions of barrels of oil). From genetically engineered microbes, it is proposed to use this energy to generate chemicals from CO2. As such, sulfide waste streams represent a new high energy feedstock for the sustainable production of chemicals from CO2. This technology will improve the sustainability of mining and provide a non-agricultural, non-photosynthetic and economically attractive route to carbon-neutral chemicals. This STTR Phase I project proposes to demonstrate the development of genetically modified A. ferrooxidans for the utilization of mining process waste streams as a feedstock for biotechnology applications. Readily available sulfur-rich waste streams produced during the traditional smelting processing of copper contain about 40% per metric ton of the energy of glucose, and about 20 million metric tons are produced annually in the U.S. These energy intensive waste streams are currently landfilled, and their environmental oxidation can lead to acid mine drainage. To leverage this opportunity, the ability to rationally engineer this species to produce isobutyric acid from atmospheric CO2 has been developed. The specific aims of this proposal are: 1) develop model reactor systems to characterize performance and operations using actual mine tailing feedstocks; 2) improve biological productivity through further metabolic engineering of A. ferrooxidans; and 3) develop a sophisticated techno-economic analysis of the novel bioprocess. In addition, a commitment from a mining company for access to a tailing feedstock supply and a site to construct and operate a pilot-scale plant will be secured. Accomplishing these goals will prepare for a future follow-on Phase II proposal to scale-up our technology, further characterize performance on actual process streams, and demonstrate large-scale process feasibility.
Errata
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KANDRA LABS INC
SBIR Phase I: Zulip threaded group chat
Contact
235 Berry St Ste 306
San Francisco, CA 94158–1629
NSF Award
1722461 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 02/28/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is group chat technology that enables knowledge workers to collaborate more effectively than ever before. It is the first tool built that empowers users to efficiently carry out both real-time and asynchronous conversations in the same system, with each user reading only those conversations that are important to them. In particular, the technology empowers teams to make decisions in virtual meetings that take place asynchronously over periods of hours or days. This is in contrast with existing group chat technology, where conversations usually end as soon as someone starts talking about something else. This ability to conduct long running, virtual meetings is invaluable for large teams that need to coordinate work across different locations and time zones. Large, distributed teams are fast becoming the norm for how organizations operate, as instant communication and globalization make such teams the workforce of the future. Coordinating the efforts of such teams is a huge pain point for companies, and this technology is a leap in the state of the art in this space. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project has two key research objectives: scaling the technology to work for teams of size 10,000+, and determining the feasibility of porting the technology to mobile. A major scalability research area is search. The company envisions the technology to be the primary place where decisions are made, and hence a primary place where knowledge is stored, so fast, full-text search is important, despite the fact that chat generates much more traffic than email. One research area on mobile is the HCI challenge of displaying rich options for conversation navigation on a small mobile screen. The problem is unique to this technology, since having long running, asynchronous conversations means that users do not typically read messages in a strictly chronological fashion. The company anticipates the Phase I grant will enable it to develop a working solution to the search scalability problem, and a working prototype of a performant and productive mobile user experience.
Errata
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KONTAK, LLC
SBIR Phase I: KONTAK Hydrogen Liquid Storage Reactor
Contact
21311 NE 101st Court
Redmond, WA 98053–7644
NSF Award
1722037 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I Project is designed to enable the wide acceptance of hydrogen as a green alternative to gasoline and diesel. To accomplish this goal, a way had to be found to safely and economically store, transport and use hydrogen. A class of organic compounds has been discovered that can store hydrogen, release it as needed, and form a recyclable residual compounds. By holding hydrogen on a liquid carrier at normal temperatures and pressures, the cost and complexity of compressing or liquefying hydrogen has been eliminated. The same infrastructure that supplies us with gasoline, diesel and ethanol can be used without modification to transport this hydrogen liquid. A safe and economical means for capturing, storing, transporting and dispensing hydrogen will enable green technologies for making hydrogen from wind, solar, biomass and tidal energy. Possibilities exist for using CO2 as a component to make these carrier molecules from hydrated ethanol. Hydrogen can be mixed 50/50 with diesel fuel to cut harmful diesel emissions in half including diesel soot which has been implicated in the rise in childhood asthma. This project combines the skills of organic chemists, nanotechnology, 3D fabrication engineers and computer-controlled electronics drivers to deliver a novel result. Achieving uniform heating of a catalytic volume is key to producing the desired output without byproducts and fouling of the catalytic surfaces. Since the anticipated reactions are endothermic and the flow rates for commercial applications are high, the research is focused on developing precise control of heat transfer into the reactor core through design and experiments. The experimental plan also involves evaluation of multiple materials for the induction heating elements, the effect of location in the solenoid barrel of the reactor core, and the various methods available to bind multiple, very small Reactor tubes together to create the Cores. The goal is to demonstrate capability for generating hydrogen output of 33 gaseous liters per minute for a 5 kW fuel cell.
Errata
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KW Associates LLC
SBIR Phase I: Vacuum Arc Control using Arc Position Sensing and Induced Magnetic Fields
Contact
33900 Eastgate Circle SE
Corvallis, OR 97330–2256
NSF Award
1647655 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will provide the first technical advancement in the specialty metals industry (manufacturers of titanium and nickel) in more than 4 decades. Specialty metals are ubiquitous in our lives, with applications from aircraft parts to medical implants, yet the vacuum arc remelting (VAR) process, the work horse for this industry, has remained relatively unchanged since its development in the 1940?s. By coupling the ability to measure the location of electric arcs used for melting these high value alloys in the VAR, with the ability to steer the arcs, substantial electrical savings can be achieved, decreasing costs to the consumer and increasing reliability of the final products. For example, it is well known that the lack of understanding of the dynamics of the process leads to an estimated 8% yield loss, costing the US industry $1.024B per year in lost revenue through yield loss and electrical inefficiency, contributing to the high price of these products. This project proposes to decrease this loss by 50% by developing an applied feedback control technology capable of optimizing the energy distribution within these systems, providing better quality metals at a cheaper production price. The intellectual merit of this project is to prove that real-time control can improve plasma-based industrial processing systems. The innovation uses externally applied magnetic fields to manipulate arc position modes during melting operations. By coupling arc position sensing, which measures magnetic field vectors exterior to the process to determine arc positions interior to it, with active manipulation of externally derived fields, arcs can be precisely controlled. Relying upon years of development and validation of arc position sensing, coupled with Finite Element Analysis simulations and experimental validation, this technology will become the first active control of arc melting systems. The significant realization is that spatial and temporal control of the diffuse current paths can be controlled precisely if the validated measurement system of current location is coupled with external field generators. This effort will focus on the application to VAR furnaces but may have significant application to other processes with diffuse current pathways such as Joule heated systems, fuel cells, additive manufacturing or industrial microwave processing. The expected impact of arc control during melting is a reduction in manufacturing defects, an enablement of the production of ingots with increasing diameter, a reduction in energy required in alloy production, and improved safety of operations.
Errata
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Kiko Labs Inc
SBIR Phase I: A Game-Based Neuro-Cognitive Assessment Tool for School Readiness
Contact
99 Devonshire Blvd
San Carlos, CA 94070–1725
NSF Award
1648440 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Phase I project's objective is to promote school readiness for Pre-K and Kindergarten students by providing support for neuro-cognitive skills, such as executive functioning and reasoning, shown to be critical for school success. The first aim is to build a prototype of a game-based assessment tool for these skills that can be implemented in classrooms to measure these skills as a baseline and to track and measure progress over time. If proven feasible, the prototype is expected to assess a child's skills in five neuro-cognitive areas in 10-15 minutes with minimal adult intervention and provide recommendations for further support. Phase I of this project will focus on developing the prototype, testing usability and feasibility with Pre-K students and teachers, and collecting data to calibrate the tool using factor analysis and item-response theory. The broader impact of this research is to gather rich data that will advance the scientific community's understanding of cognitive development in relation to multiple factors and to increase the ability to evaluate the impact of targeted interventions. In addition, commercialization of the proposed tool will help increase teachers' and caregivers' awareness of these skills and shift classroom practices towards fostering the critical underlying skills for school readiness. This project will build a prototype using constructs that are based on neuropsychological tasks designed to target these skills in lab research. Five skills will be included in the prototype: working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, reasoning and spatial skills. First, results from a convergent reliability study fielded in spring 2016 comparing Pre-K students' performance in these constructs vs. normed reference tests will be used to refine and improve the reliability of the constructs. Next, the prototype will undergo usability and feasibility testing with Pre-K students and teachers. The goal is to optimize the experience such that it can be completed in a single 15-minute session with minimal adult intervention. Finally, data will be gathered to calibrate the tool using factor analysis and item-response theory to refine the test branching algorithms. At the end of Phase I, the prototype will be ready for further research to normalize the results nationally.
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Klar Scientific
SBIR Phase I: Spectroscopy and imaging of irregular surfaces using confocal microscopy
Contact
790 SE Sherwood Ct
Pullman, WA 99163–2400
NSF Award
1646677 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$210,370
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will support the development of a confocal optical microscope with two-dimensional topographical profiling and multiple spectroscopic modes in a single, affordable precision instrument. The system will make a major impact in the $6.2 billion microscope market, with a near-term market penetration potential of over 5%, and significant growth potential. This technology will span the needs of materials science research laboratories through quality control in manufacturing to supply chain monitoring. Integration of topographic mapping with a diverse set of spectroscopic tools enables comprehensive materials analysis at the micron and submicron scale. Users will be able to identify features and defects in electronic, optoelectronic, and structural devices, as well as coatings, tubing, devices, disks, and specialty mirrors. Combinatorial materials and chemical research will also be furthered by the ability to acquire several spectroscopic maps with a single instrument. Societal impacts include practical improvements in the design and manufacture of components and systems. Because of its compact size and low cost, the microscope can be used in schools at all levels, providing students with experience in measuring properties of complex objects and helping prepare them for careers in various research, development, and production settings. The intellectual merit of this project centers on the advancement of optical microscopy into the realm of spectroscopic and surface analysis of topographically complex structures. Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), for example, have micron-to-millimeter features that can be analyzed by the developed instrument. The key innovation is the development of precision profiling and its integration with multiple spectroscopic interrogation methods. This profiling innovation centers on the capture of two-dimensional optical images with an array detector from each point on a sample and the conversion of the image properties to a vertical focus error, which is then corrected in a subsequent spectroscopic scan. The instrument can then provide Raman, photoluminescence (PL), and topographic surface (morphology) mapping of a sample, with diffraction-limited resolution. Research objectives include integration of optical profiling with spectroscopic scanning to produce accurate two-dimensional spectra from topographically rough samples, and automation of the image capture and analysis software. The instrument is designed to capture the surface topography and spectrum of a sample with tens of thousands of sample points in a few minutes and with 10-50 nanometer vertical accuracy.
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Lextrum Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Beam Steering Full Duplex Wireless Systems
Contact
5141 California Ave., Ste 250
Irvine, CA 92617–3062
NSF Award
1722372 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to enable the efficient use of wireless spectrum. Over the last decade, the world has seen a sharp increase in the number and diversity of mobile devices. With this surge in mobile devices, access to spectrum has become an overarching issue impacting the everyday life of citizens. The demand is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, with the rapid adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) linking everything we interact with in daily life. The technology developed under this project will allow communication devices to listen and broadcast simultaneously, on the same frequency, thus effectively doubling spectrum utilization by operating in Full Duplex (FD) mode. By improving spectral efficiency and simplifying frequency planning, the results from this project will enable newer paradigms for the rapid design, development and deployment of mobile devices. Society as a whole will benefit from the increased array of applications enabled by robust, spectrally efficient communication devices. Furthermore, valuable spectrum assets will be released and can be redirected to create new opportunities for growth. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate a practical Full-duplex communication system prototype. The goal of the project is to develop a functional prototype showing the ability of fast cancellation that enables reliable full duplex operation at transmit powers suitable for outdoor deployment. While Full Duplex has been shown to be achievable under static channel conditions, maintaining the desired isolation between transmit and receive path in a dynamic channel is difficult, mainly due to the high level of reflected power into the radio system that can limit its performance. By deploying novel and efficient cancellation methodologies the prototype will be able to track and compensate for moving targets as they appear in the radiation space of the FD system. Innovative co-designed spatial, analog and digital approaches will be used to converge on the optimal parameters for cancellation, while ensuring a rapid response time. All proposed algorithms under this project will be tested on a real-time FD prototype system, under realistic wireless channel condition, to ensure that practical issues are accounted for.
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LinkDyn Robotics Inc.
SBIR Phase I: A High-Force-Fidelity and Compact Actuator for an Upper-Body Exoskeletal Rehabilitation Robot
Contact
2201 Buffalo Tundra Dr
Austin, TX 78754–5961
NSF Award
1721941 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is significant. The compact and torque-controllable proposed actuator will prompt the development of a highly-potential upper-body exoskeletal rehabilitation robot that support a wide range of motion with an anatomical mobility and impedance-based dynamic behaviors. The high-performed exoskeleton will allow to implement contemporary therapeutic trainings based on neurological motor learning principles. This would enhance the efficacy of robotic rehabilitation leading to better recovery after neuromuscular injuries. Therefore, rehabilitation robots powered by the proposed actuator will be better accepted to physical rehabilitation market and bring a significant commercial impact. Ultimately, this project will contribute to reduction of socio-economic costs caused by neuromuscular impairments. Also, exoskeletons powered by the proposed actuator would contribute to better understanding of neurobehavioral principle of human body by serving as an experimental tool that creates force-based human-robot interactions with anatomical movements. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will focus on developing a compact rotary-type series elastic actuators (SEAs) for upper-body exoskeleton application. A substantial portion of the US population suffers from neuromuscular impairments, requiring intensive rehabilitation services. Robotic rehabilitation has been attracting attention from many sectors because of the potential for better rehabilitation outcome. However, the lack of anatomical shoulder mobility and compliant dynamic control in existing upper-body exoskeletons limits the capability to produce neurologically-based therapeutic behaviors. The proposed SEAs will help to overcome the limitation by enabling exoskeletons to have force and impedance-based behaviors for advanced rehabilitation protocols. Its compact form factor will benefit the linkage design of exoskeletons for a wide range of motion and anatomical mobility. Also, the SEAs with the tight configuration and high torque/power capacity will provide a high flexibility in a variety of robot designs contributing to advances of general robotic technology.
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LiveFocus LLC
STTR Phase I: Smartphone-based Slide Scanner for Mobile Digital Pathology
Contact
1251 Bunker Hill Blvd, Apt B
Columbus, OH 43220–3437
NSF Award
1648888 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to provide an affordable mobile digital pathology solution to pathologists in order to facilitate their clinical practices in disease diagnosis, peer consultations, tumor board preparations, research and education. The low-cost smartphone based portable pathology slide scanner is a complementary solution to current high throughput expensive digital pathology equipment to allow whole slide imaging to penetrate across all tiers of market. Given the high owning rate of mobile devices, the increasing processing and transmission speed, and the versatility of mobile apps, this device brings whole slide imaging at fingertips of individual pathologists. This greatly simplifies intra- and inter- institutional consultations and tumor board preparations, which enhances our fundamental understanding of disease causes and in turn leads to possible cures with improved clinical outcomes. The device also reduces the needs for physical transport of glass slides or tissue blocks to centralized digital imaging equipment. It also provides strong support on timely and accurate diagnosis, especially for those remote to digital imaging equipment. Moreover, this study provides an effective approach for teaching foundational skills of whole slide imaging to the next-generation pathologists. The proposed project is to validate the technical feasibility of using smartphone based portable slide scanner for acquiring pathological slide images with the optical performance comparable or close to those by commercial high-end slide scanners. This device is based on an innovative zoom-microscope design, where elastomer-liquid lenses with low optical aberration are used for changing the zoom ratio. This portable device can reach the optical magnification of 10X-40X and nearly diffraction-limited resolution with small lens diameters (<10mm), meeting the imaging requirement by pathologists. In this study, a prototype will be developed to demonstrate image acquisition, scanning, and transmission capabilities using representative mobile devices on the market. The minimal resolvable feature size under each magnification will be examined and compared with those of high-end commercial slide scanners. The minimal magnification increment based on the selected actuation mechanism will be experimentally determined. The images of pathological slides acquired under the same magnification or different magnifications will be stitched together to generate a large field-of-view while retaining the resolution. The stitched images will be sent to pathologists to solicit feedbacks for iterative design optimization.
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Living Ink Technologies, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Engineering novel pigmented cyanobacteria for the use in the ink, printing and colorant industries
Contact
3185-A Rampart Road
Fort Collins, CO 80521–2025
NSF Award
1648499 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is developing and producing a sustainable ink for the printing industry. Ink is commonly used in a variety of applications, and billions of pounds of ink are produced annually. The majority of chemicals within ink are petroleum based and are mined from the earth. These chemicals also are toxic to humans and the environment. Nature has produced a multitude of molecules capable of replacing components currently utilized in ink. While many organisms that produce these replacement molecules are slow growing and require energy sources like sugar, photosynthetic microbes, specifically cyanobacteria, are capable of being engineered to generate some of these replacement molecules in an efficient manner to produce pigments in ink formulations that are safe, renewable and 100% biodegradable. This ink will be used by businesses for printing packaging, marketing material, and other printed products. Developing and integrating these ink products will decrease the overall detrimental impact of traditional inks on the environment and human health. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop sustainable ink formulations using engineered cyanobacteria cells capable of generating cellular pigments that will make the cultures optically black in appearance. These optically black cells will act as pigments that replace mined pigments found in traditional ink formulations. This project uses entire cyanobacteria cells in ink formulations so that extraction of pigments/dyes is not necessary, thus saving energy and reducing cost. While currently utilized pigments used for ink are minerals mined from the ground such as carbon black, which is a finite material, cyanobacteria are a renewable source of biomass for bio-products, as these organisms leverage sunlight, carbon dioxide, wastewater and land otherwise unsuitable for conventional agriculture to rapidly generate biomass. In addition to the development of renewable cyanobacteria strains considered to be optically black, this project will develop optimal growth conditions as well as techno-economic models leveraging these strains within several subsets of the ink industry. Using cyanobacteria to produce ink products is a novel application, which will be a major breakthrough for the algal bio-products industry.
Errata
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Addenda
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Looking Glass Ventures, LLC
SBIR Phase I: EasyAuthor - An End User Authoring Tool for Open and Intelligent Technology-Enhanced Assessments.
Contact
202 Sequoia Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306–1043
NSF Award
1646935 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will research the feasibility of a cloud-based, collaborative authoring tool to achieve an order-of-magnitude reduction in technical skills required to author technology-enhanced assessments (TEAs). Additionally, it will seek to advance the frontiers of TEA authoring beyond individual assessments to encompass the creation of personalized TEA pathways for diverse learners. The effort will explore novel technologies including a symbolic abstraction to enable visual design and implementation of complex programming constructs, and the representation of TEAs as "intelligent objects" interoperable with disparate and proprietary assessment platforms. This effort seeks to break the stranglehold of large organizations on a growing assessments market that marginalizes educators due to barriers of cost and technology skills. It will empower educators by making available easy-to-use tools that enable creation and sharing of open TEAs and TEA pathways to support deeper learning at scale, allowing educators to distribute TEAs in a classroom without being restricted by a proprietary assessment system, triggering the evolution of a peer-to-peer marketplace for teacher-created assessments. This disruption bears the potential to empower educator communities at scale and impact all learners in secondary and tertiary education settings through equitable access to quality assessments. This project will feature two distinctive innovations. The first is a visual programming environment with symbolic abstraction of complex programming constructs that are imperative for the design and creation of TEAs. This will enable intuitive authoring of complex TEAs by non-programmers (an impossibility today) and break down the biggest friction point for achieving access to TEAs at scale. The second is an open format for representation of TEAs as intelligent objects that are platform agnostic and "embeddable" in any assessment delivery system. This will facilitate distribution and usage of TEAs in browsers and thin client environments without the need for server side functionality mandated by proprietary systems. This will eventually break the stranglehold of proprietary assessment delivery systems that tie TEA access to their platforms. The project will pursue two primary research questions: How efficient and useful is the TEA authoring experience for non-technical educators? Are the TEAs effective in eliciting targeted reasoning and thinking processes? These research questions will help validate the technical feasibility of our innovative use of the proposed tool to enable easy TEA creation and distribution, and the efficacy of the complex TEAs created using the proposed project in providing evidence of target learning.
Errata
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Addenda
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Lotic Labs LLC
SBIR Phase I: Hydro-financial modeling architecture for the automated optimization of low basis risk indices
Contact
1224 N Tejon St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903–2322
NSF Award
1722276 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 02/28/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the improved financial resilience of the numerous industries that are reliant on stable water conditions. The innovation will enable the transfer and pooling of the financial risks posed by drought and flood in an increasingly efficient market. In the US, over $250B of industrial activity depends on stable freshwater systems across the energy, agricultural, and utility markets. Floods, droughts, freezes, and other conditions destroy roughly $10B in economic value annually in the US alone - value which cannot be recovered until it is accurately quantified and mapped to clear and measurable indicators. This SBIR research will enable the generation of accurate risk indices that bring clarity to the opaque and complex financial impacts of volatile water conditions. This will improve the accessibility, cost, and effectiveness of index-based insurance contracts, which provide businesses with crucial financial relief from the droughts and floods that hamper their operations. Such contracts also create new investment opportunities with diversification benefits for investors. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to overcome the technical challenges of seamlessly and scalably 1) combining and analyzing massive heterogeneous datasets relevant to hydrologic-financial risks, 2) managing a diverse set of models that cover hydrology, industrial operations, markets, and actuarial sciences, and 3) optimizing the configuration of data and models to generate accurate and precise risk indices. This project will construct and test a unified semantic data model for hydrologic-financial risk and deploy optimizations to maximize accuracy of the indices for a specific industrial use case. The architecture allows for the automated provisioning of disparate datasets and the deployment of best-in-class modeling and optimization tools to generate detailed risk indices. The research will create new vocabulary, when necessary, to bridge the gaps between existing ontologies in hydrology, industrial asset operations, actuarial analysis, and financial market conditions. If successful, the research will enable a dramatic reduction in both the time and cost required to produce hydrologic-financial risk analyses and the instances of errors in those analyses.
Errata
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Louisiana Multi-Functional-Materials Group LLC
SBIR Phase I: Smart Two-Way Shape Memory Polymer Based Sealant
Contact
8000 Innovation Park Dr
Baton Rouge, LA 70820–7400
NSF Award
1647650 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to provide an affordable sealant for sealing expansion joints and cracks in concrete pavement, bridge deck, etc. In transportation infrastructure, expansion joints are intentionally constructed in order to allow movement of the structural elements due to linear thermal expansion when temperature rises. In addition, cracks are a common failure mode in pavement. If they are not properly sealed, water penetration will damage the surface layer and the layers beneath, and entrapped debris will cause rupture of the concrete wall. Therefore, sealing cracks and joints is a common practice to maintain or extend the structure service life. Various types of sealants have been used with an annual market value about $6.1 billion. Unfortunately, many sealants cannot properly seal cracks and joints, and/or last long, requiring frequent replacement or resealing. In this project, a smart sealant that expands upon cooling and contracts upon heating, which is thermally opposite to concrete, will be developed to counteract thermal movement of the joined structural elements. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the feasibility of a smart sealant technology. The primary reason for joint failure is that most sealants behave similar to concrete, i.e., they contract upon cooling and expand upon heating. This thermal behavior is contrary to the requirement for sealants. The objective of this project is to design, synthesize, characterize, and evaluate a cost-effective two-way shape memory polymer based sealant for sealing expansion joints or cracks in concrete pavement or bridge deck, which will expand upon cooling and contract upon heating. It will have the required mechanical properties and durability to survive the repeated traffic load and outdoor environment. The success of the project can have beneficial impact not only on the transportation infrastructure but also other structures such as driveways, parking lots, dams, harbors, buildings, swimming pools, etc.
Errata
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Low Re Tech LLC
SBIR Phase I: Draw Tower Control Software for Specialty Optical Fibers
Contact
3401 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19104–3358
NSF Award
1647706 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$158,165
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to eliminate the need for costly trial and error in the fabrication of specialty optical fibers. Specialty fibers are rapidly finding applications in a diverse array of fields, resulting in a rapidly growing market for this technology. However, a major bottleneck in their development is the difficulty of fabricating them, since the configuration of the fiber may differ from the preform from which it is drawn. The new technology will provide value in significantly reducing costs in materials and labor associated with existing trial and error procedures by providing a tool capable of predicting in advance the preform configuration and parameters necessary to draw a desired fiber. Besides enhancing scientific understanding of the physics of fiber drawing, the development of this tool would allow more rapid exploration of the possibilities offered by specialty optical fibers. The proposed project would lay the mathematical groundwork necessary to develop prediction software for specialty optical fibers. By developing a mathematical model of the fluid dynamics of fiber drawing that incorporates both air channels and inclusions of viscous fluid, it would be applicable to a wide range of specialty optical fibers being developed today, including multicore fibers. The proposed project would additionally attempt to overcome previous efforts' restrictions on the slenderness of the draw-down region. Because the model will be specialized to the geometry of fiber drawing, an implementation will run fast enough for fabricators to explore a large space of possible parameters, allowing them to realize their fiber designs precisely. The model will be tested against numerical simulations of viscous threads and against experimental data. A successful outcome of the proposed project will be the development of methods that are accurate, fast enough for optimization work, and require only parameters that can be easily measured in draw towers. Implementing these methods in software will provide a crucial tool for fabricators in this rapidly expanding market.
Errata
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MAA Laboratories, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: The novel NanoCont drug delivery technology for creating nanoformulated medicines with improved safety, better quality, and more predictable clinical responses.
Contact
310 S. Harrington Street
Raleigh, NC 27601–1818
NSF Award
1720591 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project is developing a novel drug delivery technology for pharmaceutical companies with drug products or investigational compounds that exhibit poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability. NanoContTM technology will provide a rapid and cost-effective approach for creating novel nanoformulated drug products for FDA-approved and investigational compounds. From a commercialization perspective, the technology will: (1) create improved nanoformulations of FDA-approved compounds to extend patent life and market exclusivity of established drugs, thus providing substantial value to pharmaceutical companies; (2) nanoformulate investigational compounds to increase their dissolution rate and bioavailability and facilitate the development of promising drug candidates that would otherwise be abandoned; (3) be developed on a continuous manufacturing platform, which will reduce overall development costs, decrease lead time, decrease manufacturing footprint, and permit manufacturing activities (currently outsourced abroad) to be relocated back to the U.S. Therefore, the NanoContTM is expected to have high commercial impact for pharmaceutical companies, facilitate development of novel drug candidates to benefit patients, and provide economic value by increasing manufacturing efficiencies and manufacturing jobs in the U.S. MAA Laboratories (MAA) is developing a novel drug delivery technology for pharmaceutical companies with drug products or investigational compounds that exhibit poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability. The NanoContTM drug delivery technology is a manufacturing platform that uses patent protected product specific formulation and process conditions to create nanocrystals and a patented polymer-coating process to coat and stabilize the nanocrystals. Polymer-coating of the drug nanoparticles acts as an energy barrier to prevent agglomeration, thus maintaining the enhanced dissolution characteristics and long-term product stability, as well as preventing downstream problems, such as inconsistent bioavailability and/or dosing. The NanoContTM platform is expected to be a disruptive technology because it offers strictly controlled particle size/size distribution, particle stabilization, low-cost scalability, and implementation on a continuous manufacturing platform. There are no competitive products that offer this unique combination of benefits. In summary, MAA?s NanoContTM drug delivery technology provides a novel method for nanoformulating pharmaceutical crystals in a polymer coated structure made of pharmaceutically acceptable polymers. The proposed technology on a continuous manufacturing platform is expected to provide a rapid, readily scalable, and broadly applicable process for developing and delivering poorly soluble compounds as novel patentable drug products with favorable dissolution, safety, and PK characteristics.
Errata
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Addenda
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MAVRIC Semiconductor Inc
SBIR Phase I: Ultra Power-Efficient Analog and Bio-inspired Integrated Circuits for Wearable Computing
Contact
681 37th Avenue, Suite. A
Santa Cruz, CA 95062–5122
NSF Award
1647978 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$229,421
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to solve critical power budget issues in next generation wearable computing applications. Candidate applications require ultra-low power, require massive context-awareness computation, and need to perform in the noisy real world. A large gap exists between consumer expectation and what can be realized using conventional circuit techniques. Reconfigurable and biologically inspired classifiers use proprietary mixed signal approaches that uniquely close wearable computing's power/performance gap. Our Phase I deliverables focus on completing a minimum viable product (MVP) that will use gesture recognition to wake up/control behavior of a wearable device with a power budget in the low micro-watt range. The demonstration would use programmable neural classifier engines acting on sensor stimulus to perform gesture recognition. This important step will allow the further development of the technology portfolio for a broader range of applications. The proposed project's central innovation lies in the mixed-signal approach to embedded computing to shatter the energy efficiency barrier of traditional digital systems. The Field Programmable Analog Array (FPAA) approach incorporates neuromorphic circuits which approach 5GMAC/uW processing efficiency for high-level classification tasks. The Long-term vision is to address a broad range of end applications through a family of mixed signal integrated circuits based on a novel and programmable architecture that operates at 2 orders of magnitude less power than a comparable digital implementation; to deliver solutions that are the world's most energy efficient implementation. When classification tasks which formerly required at least 10mW to perform can be accomplished within 100uW, a vast range of applications become possible. The impact will be most profoundly felt in the design of next generation portable devices- in particular complex event tracking functions in wireless sensor motes (enabling the Internet-of-Things (IoT)), next generation devices for wearable computing.
Errata
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MURA INC.
SBIR Phase I: Advanced Computational Imaging System for 3D Surface Microgeometry and Reflectance Properties Measurement
Contact
3023 Kaiser Dr Unit F
Santa Clara, CA 95051–4759
NSF Award
1722381 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project can lead to a revolution in 3D microgeometry and reflectance properties measurement of object surfaces at the micron-scale. The proposed technology will significantly improve photorealistic rendering and enhance the workflow efficiency in physically-based rendering. This can impact a broad range of industries, including video games, product visualization, animation, visual effects, scientific rendering and virtual/augmented reality. The superior performance and greatly reduced cost will allow the same system to be used in the manufacturing industry, which requires high-resolution depth measurement. This technology will result in the broader adoption of non-contact 3D metrology and 3D machine vision for manufacturing quality control and defect inspection. The proposed project will develop a computational imaging system that allows for high-resolution 3D microgeometry and reflectance properties measurement of object surfaces. The current approaches for 3D surface measurement at the micron scale are based on sophisticated optical and mechanical components that are expensive and can be difficult to use, and most of these approaches cannot decouple the direct reflection and sub-surface scattering. The goal of this research program is to develop a combination of hardware and software that can measure 3D surface microgeometry and reflectance properties with micron-scale accuracy. The proposed technology is expected to achieve superior performance and greatly reduced cost.
Errata
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MVSystems LLC
STTR Phase I: Perovskite Solar Cells with Tin Oxide Electron Transport Layers for Optimized Performance and Lifetime
Contact
6770 West 52nd Avenue, Unit A
Arvada, CO 80002–3945
NSF Award
1722390 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$223,823
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will be seen in the strengthening of the renewable energy landscape, in the diversification of our energy sources, and ultimately in the reduction of fossil fuel?s impact on human health and the environment as our society moves toward clean electrification of our energy supply and distribution systems. Due to the low cost of its raw materials, intrinsic scalability and rapid evolution of efficiencies, perovskite solar cells are the ideal candidates to validate thin film photovoltaics as a safe, commercially viable and economically sustainable source of energy. This rapidly emerging technology is compatible with existing silicon photovoltaics and can be combined with them to enhance their efficiencies, or can be used as stand-alone devices that can ultimate meet or exceed the performance of silicon while enabling an intrinsically inexpensive and scalable manufacturing process. Initial studies predict an estimated cost of production of modules lower than $0.28/W after amortization of initial capital investment, which translates into a cost of production ~30% lower than that of current photovoltaic technologies. The proposed project will provide a solution to a key degradation mechanism that affects the lifetime performance of perovskite photovoltaics. Degradation is caused by trapping of charges at the interface between the light absorbing perovskite layer and the electron transport layer, typically TiO2, which leads to the breakdown of the perovskite structure through a sequence of chemical reactions. In this project TiO2 will be replaced by SnO2 (either intrinsic or doped) which has an electronic band structure that matches very closely with new high efficiency perovskite compositions. Additionally, SnO2 is considerable less expensive than TiO2, easier to deposit with high quality, i.e. low density of electronic defects, and it is more environmentally robust in the presence of moisture and oxygen than TiO2. SnO2 also does not photocatalyze degradation pathways of the perovskite layer, which is recently thought to be occurring with TiO2. Preliminary laboratory work using SnO2 as an electron transport layer yielded efficiencies comparable to cells manufactured using TiO2 (~18%), but more importantly, tests showed virtually no degradation after 500 hours of operation. Our goal is to further improve the properties of the perovskite cells (efficiency and stability) while developing a robust, inexpensive deposition process for SnO2.
Errata
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Malachite Technologies
SBIR Phase I: Low Damage Sputter Magnetron for Silicon Heterojunction PV Production
Contact
455 Diamond Street
San Francisco, CA 94114–2822
NSF Award
1648580 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be seen in the adoption of solar energy as a cost-competitive alternative to non-renewable energy sources. While solar energy costs have been dramatically reduced, the use of the most efficient cells is limited by manufacturing costs. The need for efficient cells - solar cells that deliver more watts per area - can be seen when considering system costs. Higher efficiency reduces all costs related to area: module components, support structures, labor, land, etc. Silicon Heterojunctions (SHJ) cells deliver leading conversion efficiencies but are manufactured with processes that require multiple passes through very expensive machines to deposit required semiconductor layers. The manufacturing cost issue has hindered adoption of the high efficiency SHJ cell technology. The project's innovation dramatically reduces the cost of the most expensive steps in SHJ cell manufacture while maintaining or improving cell performance. Potentially, the innovation could find application in other markets such as organic light emitting diodes (LEDs). The cost reduction of the SHJ cell will significantly shift the photovoltaic industry's energy conversion efficiency upward and the cost per watt downward. The proposed project addresses two shortcomings of the established manufacturing methods for SHJ solar cells. The first challenge is the deposition of the cell's transparent conductive layer, typically an alloy called indium tin oxide (ITO). Standard sputter processes used for this deposition cause damage to the underlying layers of the cell. The damage can reduce the cell performance or require additional process steps. Also, next generation concepts for SHJ cell design are even more sensitive to damage and less able to tolerate "repair" steps. The project will develop a novel low damage sputter source for the ITO deposition. The second challenge is that the semiconductor layers of the SHJ cell use costly plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems developed for the high value display industry. The project will direct use of the novel sputter source for deposition of the semiconductor layers as well as the ITO. Sputter is lower cost than PECVD and easily allows sequential layers of different materials to be deposited in a single, continuous flow, in-line machine. The project will demonstrate the sputter source for each of the layers as separate materials and for an SHJ cell with a fully sputtered stack of the three critical layers.
Errata
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Mazdak International Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Emissions Assessment For A Natural-Gas Fired Furnace For Melting Iron
Contact
410 West Third St - P.O.Box 117
Sumas, WA 98295–0117
NSF Award
1721596 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,980
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 02/28/2018
Abstract
The broad impact of this SBIR Phase I project is in the development of a new cokeless process to melt iron and scrap steel while meeting stringent environmental regulations. The process being investigated will potentially shift the paradigm of difficult pollution control to the use of a clean fuel, such as natural gas. It has the potential to cut down 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions by comparison with coke fired cupolas that continue to cover 70% of the world production of castings. By leveraging the existing network of natural gas pipelines, it intends to put back the US at the forefront of developing clean technologies for metal casting and provide opportunities to expand to new foundries. The proposal focuses on a specially designed furnace that primarily incorporates two interconnected chambers with two different zones of melting and superheating. This design is aimed at overcoming the limitations of natural gas fired cokeless cupolas and rotary furnaces,and rapidly dwindling coke-fired open hearth furnaces. The key objective of this project is to demonstrate that the innovative furnace can melt pig iron at the required rate, but with lower pollution emissions than competitive technologies, and in compliance with stringent environmental regulations. In particular emissions of CO2, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates will be lowered by finding a range of favorable operating conditions through systematic experimentation. Slag damage to furnace lining will also be managed.
Errata
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Media Health Technologies, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Mobile Behavioral and Medical Applications for Patient and Provider Interfacing
Contact
2626 Colt Rd
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275–6505
NSF Award
1647270 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on content and data analytics design to attract patients with chronic diseases to navigate web and mobile based educational and self-care tools. It will also provide clinicians with surveillance for their practice and easy outreach in times of urgent need for vaccinations and health information, as well as to reduce care gaps in annual wellness visits and needed follow-up care. Patient and provider usability will generate big data analytics to improve care and manage resources specific to the needs of the community. With millions of patient and health providers as users, the big data derived from these users will provide information to reduce healthcare costs for patients, providers, payers, the government and society. The proposed project is to incorporate and improve patient-centered care using web and mobile based custom software tools to support patients managing their health. Our research will allow for practitioners to focus on improving patient-physician engagement by measuring skills and behaviors of the patient when diagnosing and treating them. We will develop engaging content and software tools using secure and private web and mobile based health applications to promote smoking cessation, nutrition education, substance abuse reduction and cardiovascular care, providing data analytics from patients managing their disease on the platform to the care team's electronic health records or on the dashboards we provide. This research, if successful will impact how big data analytics and outcomes measurement is communicated through consumerism and in the healthcare industry. The technology will incorporate customized IP dashboard for providers and patients; business decision modeling systems to make smarter decisions within the care continuum; custom analytics solutions that will offer relevant insights and reporting; advanced visualization of big data analytics that will provide very clear and concise representation of insights in an easy to interpret form, preventing the end-user from being bogged down with complex data; and predictive analytics to support clinical and patient decision making providing futuristic insights.
Errata
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Medicool Technologies Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Novel Defibrillator
Contact
975 34th Ave. NW
Rochester, MN 55901–7057
NSF Award
1648019 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project lies in its potential to develop a new mechanism for painlessly terminating atrial fibrillation. Cardiac arrhythmia is one of the leading causes of death and debilitation. A common means of terminating harmful rhythms is delivering a shock via an external or implantable defibrillator. The pain from the shock is the number one concern for patients with implantable defibrillators, and because of the pain, an implantable option is not practical for atrial fibrillation. The high-risk, high-reward research to be conducted under this project will significantly advance the field of defibrillation therapy and aims to lead to the introduction of a new class of implantable medical device technology. The proposed project seeks to develop and evaluate an implantable device that achieves non-destructive temporary conduction delay in cardiac tissues for the painless termination, and potentially prevention, of life threatening arrhythmias. Cardiac arrhythmias are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. More than 1,000 Americans die each day from sudden cardiac arrest. The project intends to initially target the development of a device to achieve rapid and painless termination of life threatening arrhythmias to treat atrial fibrillation. The successful development of the proposed device has the potential to benefit millions of patients. Additionally, by virtue of its painless modulation of arrhythmogenesis, the proposed device may well also terminate incipient arrhythmias. The phase I project will develop instrumentation, conduct experiments and develop a cardiac model and simulation environment to validate the technique in support of the development of a prototype system. The determination of a dose response characteristic of the proposed therapy in this phase of the research is an expected long-term outcome of the project.
Errata
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Mentor on the Go LLC
SBIR Phase I: Modernizing the diagnosis, monitoring, and treating of substance use disorders via an integrated technology platform
Contact
4810 Yearling Glen Rd
San Diego, CA 92130–6956
NSF Award
1621825 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$269,999
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to transform how substance use disorders (SUDs) are diagnosed, monitored and treated by creating an integrated technology platform for health care providers. One important application is the early detection of risky substance use behavior that, if treated in the beginning stages, will reduce the rate of fully developed SUDs. The research and development performed on this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be key to creating a novel bio-sensor based approach to diagnosing, monitoring and treating substance abuse patients. The collected bio-sensor data can also inform treatment solutions to help address this tremendous problem, which affects millions of people, costs the US economy billions of dollars annually, and incurs a significant human cost in terms of lost lives, broken families, and unfulfilled potential. There is also strong demand for a robust solution in places where substance use detection and monitoring is mandated for safety reasons, including the court system and the military services, as well as occupations like air traffic controllers, pilots, train operators, truck drivers, bus drivers, and operators of heavy machinery. The proposed project will focus on integrating biosensors with smartphone technology to detect, collect, transmit, store, and analyze relevant biodata and to push resulting behavior change instructions to the user. By establishing a connection between the sensors and a smartphone application we will report substance abuse treatment outcome data much more accurately than is currently possible via self-reporting. This system will address engineering, manufacturing, and calibration challenges of a highly accurate diagnostic tool. This technology bypasses the limitations of existing methods with a dramatically different approach. The technology aims to greatly simplify the process of SUD diagnosis and treatment by empowering health care providers to implement accurate data collection, early detection, and custom-tailored intervention within the context of any routine office visit. The proposed project will address the development of a substance use measuring biosensor and assess the sensor lifetime, stability, reproducibility, and sensitivity. It is intended to develop a biosensor that patients can wear for a period of time, that we can establish a meaningful connection between the sensor and the mobile application to replace self-reporting, and that concept support can be gained from broader representation of primary care physicians and major insurance companies
Errata
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MetaSeismic, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: MetaMaterial for Seismic Energy Absorption
Contact
5141 California Ave Ste 250
Irvine, CA 92617–3062
NSF Award
1721975 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate isolation pads made of a novel class of metamaterials to reduce seismic vibrations of equipment and buildings. Use of traditional seismic isolation materials often leads to restricted design spaces and needs expensive full-scale device testing, which make the technology unfeasible for extensive application. The internal architecture of the high-performance materials to be studied and optimized in this work can enlarge the design space to embrace objects as small as an expensive equipment and as large as a major bridge. Simplification of testing protocols due to the shift of the isolation property from the device to the material level adds to the Broader Impacts by making seismic isolation accessible for a wide range of applications. The high level of seismic protection provided by this technology constitutes an immediate value for commercial activities that require continuity of operations after earthquakes. The initial target is the fast growing market of data centers, with the potential for follow-on market in residential housing construction. The extensive application of the innovation has the potential of increasing the resiliency of communities in areas prone to seismic activity and reducing related direct and indirect losses. The intellectual merit of this project derives from the development of an optimization framework for the internal architecture of metamaterials for enhanced seismic protection. There has not been a fundamental study to optimize metamaterials based on manufacturing tolerances, costs, and performance for seismic applications. This work will contribute to developing a set of design principles for optimized internal material architectures depending on desired seismic performance. Experimental investigations will be carried out to validate the methodology and to prove the feasibility of replacing device testing with material coupon testing to certify metamaterial pads for seismic isolation. This will include the investigation of processing methods to manufacture material assemblies with uniform mechanical properties, and will involve both static and dynamic testing of the material. The key technical objectives of the project are 1) the development of the optimization design framework based on manufacturing and seismic performance constraints, and 2) the material testing protocol to verify scalability and defect insensitivity of the material property. It is anticipated that the metamaterial architecture can be modulated to provide seismic isolation property beyond state of the art seismic isolation devices, and can be scaled from material coupons to large assemblies without significant property modification.
Errata
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Metalytics, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Software and Services to Enable Metabolic Flux Analysis in Biotechnology Research
Contact
PO Box 231
Morrisville, NC 27560–0231
NSF Award
1648315 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop novel software technologies to assess cellular metabolism, which is critical for optimizing cell-based manufacturing of biochemicals, drugs, and foods. The same technology also may be used for drug discovery and therapeutic applications to treat metabolic diseases such as cancer or diabetes. By providing critical information about cellular metabolic rates, the proposed technology will enable commercial investigators to identify slow pathways that limit production or wasteful pathways that divert energy and raw materials away from the product, thus allowing for quick and rational engineering to improve cells for biomanufacturing. It is anticipated that the expanded use of these metabolic analysis tools will have a widespread impact on the US economy through enabling faster product and process development in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries. It also will enable the establishment of a more scalable and repeatable business strategy by productizing these analysis services. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop software tools and modular assays that will enable commercial investigators to fully integrate 13C flux analysis into their metabolic engineering toolbox. This technology provides direct readouts of metabolic pathway activities inside of living cells, which are otherwise impossible to directly measure. However, the majority of 13C flux studies to date have been performed in academic labs and have received limited attention in industrial settings. This is largely due to the lack of combined experimental and computational expertise to effectively perform 13C flux studies in industry. This research is innovative because it marks an important step in moving 13C flux analysis outside of the academic lab space and into the commercial space. The overall objective of this proposal will be accomplished by pursuing the following specific aims: 1) Develop flux analysis software consistent with current standards of commercial research software, and 2) develop standardized, high-throughput, modular flux assays for quantifying the metabolism of industrial cell factories. The key outcomes of this research will be significant, as it will produce an integrated platform capable of accelerating the experimental, analytical, and computational workflows necessary to expand the application of 13C flux analysis to industrial research.
Errata
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Microgrid Labs Inc.
STTR Phase I: Solar Irradiance Microforecasting
Contact
903 Grogans Mill Drive
Cary, NC 27519–7175
NSF Award
1648751 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project to develop short term Solar irradiance forecasting, will be to support very large deployment of Solar photovoltaic (SPV) generation capacity, by reducing the cost of mitigating cloud caused fluctuation of SPV electricity generation. This increased SPV system deployment will reduce the amount of base load and peaking generation from greenhouse gas causing, and water consuming fossil fuel generators. Such forecasting will enable development of pre-‐ mitigation strategies instead of post mitigation using electrical storage systems. Prior studies indicate that this will result in the reduction by up to a factor of five, of the input/output requirements of the electrical storage system used in the pre-‐mitigation scenario, compared to the post mitigation scenario. These benefits will be seen with grid-‐tied, micro-‐grid and off-‐grid SPV systems. This opens commercial opportunities for introducing intelligent sensors and control systems to reduce bulk electrical storage. The technology areas used in this project include sensors, 3D printing, neural network based learning systems, embedded computers and cloud computing. The market sectors that will see a positive impact include all demographics as consumers, and manufacturers of SPV modules and SPV balance of system suppliers. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project addresses the problem of mitigating cloud movement induced fluctuation in the output of SPV systems. The research objectives of Phase I are (a) prototype a whole sky imager that provides sufficient circumsolar image discrimination, to drive a neural network based learning system ? this will require development of a 3D-‐printed mounting system for a whole sky sensor, and interface to a cloud connected, local single board computer, (b) develop and optimize Image Acquisition, Compositing, Analysis, and Forecasting Algorithms to provide 15-‐500 second forecasts of Solar irradiance, and (c) deploy imager + software prototypes to evaluate real live sky imagery in multiple locations with different weather patterns, by gathering data to ?train? the neural network. It is anticipated that this evaluation and analysis of prototype performance will continue in subsequent phases, to obtain high confidence results. The anticipated results of the research in Phase I are (i) refinement of the image capture system to produce ?good? imagery, (ii) development of procedures to tune neural network learning system towards obtaining high confidence forecasts, and (iii) understanding of performance requirements of local single board computer.
Errata
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MiddleScholars Inc.
SBIR Phase I: An Electronic Subconscious For Lifelong Learning
Contact
3607 Rue Mirassou
San Jose, CA 95148–4305
NSF Award
1722425 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 03/31/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project is a fully synergistic educational framework that addresses learning, retention, and presentation, with the potential to improve the educational outcomes for society at large. By maximizing the work done in a limited timeframe, immediate beneficiaries will be underrepresented minority students. This product will accelerate the taking of science to the society, and the society to the next frontier of science. It has ubiquitous application to all adult learning communities, including colleges, healthcare, governmental organizations, and private corporations. This solution augments some highly used current educational technologies with engagement mechanisms that greatly accelerate the learning process, personalize it, and persist this personalized knowledge so as to make it continually available to the learner. This innovation creates a layer of intelligence that is common to all of those involved in learning, and uses it to personalize a user's next learning experience. It avoids grappling with the plethora of learning technologies (e.g., learning management systems, conference management systems, continuing education companies, and content hosting software) by exploiting the virtues of a select set of ubiquitous educational technologies and at the same time compensating for many of their drawbacks. The solution generates and exploits appropriate user engagement data to drive the persistent intelligence layer. This innovation is a framework that supports learning through a network of intelligent personal assistants that shadow a learning community and interact to enhance both the individual and the group learning experience. It exploits existing teaching pedagogies augmented with big data analytics to provide a disruptive result while ensuring a low barrier to adoption. It is unique because it works with existing practices and provides powerful visualizations of interactivity that can be used to evolve both teaching and learning practices.
Errata
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MirTech, inc
SBIR Phase I: Functional nano-adsorbent embedded packaging film for control and delivery of ethylene and other volatiles to extend fruit quality in bananas
Contact
30 Valley Wood Drive
Somerset, NJ 08873–5229
NSF Award
1647153 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,928
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be better preservation of perishable food produce. The proposed new functionalized packaging film for perishable foods, incorporates innovative technologies to eliminate harmful microbes, lock in just-harvested aroma and taste, extend shelf-life from field to the kitchen table, and reduce food waste. These benefits will accrue to farmers and field workers, to shippers and truckers, to retailers who realize less produce waste, and o consumers. The proposed technology incorporates a novel nano-adsorbent metal organic framework (MOF) a molecular 'sponge' into a multi-layer packaging film which can deliver microbial protection, slow down the ripening process during shipment and deliver just-harvested quality in our fruits and vegetables. MOFs are a novel material technology which potentially could transform packaging from ?just plastic bags? to true active packaging. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to determine the technical feasibility to extrude a multi-layer film with the nano-adsorbent metal organic framework (MOF) material incorporated in a layer within linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) film. This functionalized film structure will be selectively permeable via the embedded MOF structures to allow the exchange of gases, including ethylene, O2, CO2, other biologically active gases and certain antimicrobial compounds such as chlorine dioxide. Control of fruit and vegetable respiration (O2/CO2 balance), control endogenous and exogenous ethylene, and the delivery antimicrobial gases via MOFs could be the single most important recent technology breakthrough that allows producers in distant markets to delivery fresh produce. This research project will seek to identify MOFs with the appropriate gas exchange properties, heat stability in the blown film extrusion process and proper orientation within the film structure. Collaborative research is needed to select likely MOF candidates, to incorporate these MOFs in films extruded on pilot scale equipment, and to characterize effectiveness at a university-based postharvest laboratory to enable rapid technology development, impartial assessments, and effective reduction to practice.
Errata
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MoQuality Inc
SBIR Phase I: Effective Test Generation for Mobile Applications
Contact
144 Ponce De Leon Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30308–4123
NSF Award
1622034 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 10/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve the quality of mobile applications by providing developers with better tools for quality assurance of such applications. The results from these tools will enable the developers to take actionable steps to improve and evolve their applications before releasing to customers. This process will also increase developers' confidence in the reliability of their app and will allow them to ship high-quality apps faster. As a result, the average mobile user will have a better mobile experience, thus benefiting all segments of society that rely on mobile computing for their daily activities. From a research perspective, the proposed project will help us understand the practical issues in effectively applying and scaling test generation for mobile applications. Based on the findings, the company will define improved techniques to address such issues and disseminate its results broadly through publications and interactions with industry. Finally, the work will positively influence the next generation of mobile computing development tools by making automated testing more integrated with the development process. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project directly addresses the stated goals of the "Information Technologies" topic; it promises to provide fundamental scientific advances by developing both solid theoretical foundations and practical tools that help in improving the functionality and performance of mobile software. Bugs in mobile applications are dependent on the multiple contexts such as user, location, platform etc., leading to several challenges in testing under realistic user conditions. Thus, despite recent research advances in software engineering, app testing is still done by humans, resulting in a tedious and error prone process. This project will lead to the development of novel techniques and a tool (product) that enables, supports and automates the generation of test cases for mobile applications under various conditions. Upon completion, this project will provide unprecedented advantages to developers for reducing their testing costs while effectively finding and addressing app issues. The results of the company's preliminary evaluation are encouraging and motivate further research and development in this area. The company will leverage relationships built during its initial customer discovery to empirically validate the proposed techniques on real world mobile applications.
Errata
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Mobius Labs, Inc
SBIR Phase I: IoT Smart Water Management System
Contact
37 Vischer Ferry Rd
Rexford, NY 12148–1617
NSF Award
1721739 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,949
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide a simple to use "smoke alarm" for water appliances coupled with a level of insight into water consumption and failures that has never existed before. What was once a reliance on water meter data for the sum of all appliances is now a detailed understanding for each individual water fixture. This unprecedented access to water usage data at an individual appliance level will provide the opportunity for increased data analytics research, predictive analytics for failure modes and maintenance scheduling, and better understanding of human consumption habits to identify and solve problems that allow organizations to meet aggressive sustainability goals. Only recently has there been an ability for hospitals to aggregate their medical information to aid research efforts to treat and cure chronic diseases and illnesses. Mobius is looking to do the same for any building owner for water, as the growing concern to continued, reasonable costing fresh water becomes even greater. The proposed project will provide the opportunity for the development of an IoT Smart Water Management System (SWMS). It will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to both identify leaks so they can be corrected before wasting precious water and energy, and provide predictive analytics for actionable insights. This will significantly improve water appliance maintenance and prevent costly water damage to properties. Further, at a macro level, it provides municipality level insight for maintenance and crisis management. The vision is to easily install these SWMS devices into any existing water fixture. It will take less than 60 seconds to install and connect to the Internet. The design goal is to be cost-effective from the start. The SWMS provides an affordable and easy way to adopt data driven decision making into current operations. The critical objectives set forth in this proposal are centered on achieving a simple "smoke alarm" like warning of a fault coupled with a robust analytics platform. Finally, these will be designed as highly durable IoT devices that require little or no maintenance.
Errata
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MonoLets, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Batteryless Single Chip Mote
Contact
2150 Shattuck Avenue, Penthouse
Berkeley, CA 94704–7006
NSF Award
1646925 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project spans various segments i.e. consumer, environment monitoring, healthcare, infrastructure monitoring, automotive, smart cities, agriculture, power generation, oil and gas, industrial automation/manufacturing, retail, and robotics to name a few. Over the past several decades, wireless connectivity has played a significant role in reshaping our social lives and generating huge economic value for businesses all around the globe. The wireless connectivity has been focused around human-to-human communication but in the next decade machine-to-machine communication will play a significant role in the fourth industrial revolution. The proposed R&D will enable the vision of ubiquitous connectivity at scale, which the Internet of Things promises. The Internet of Things (IoT) economic impact is projected to be anywhere between $7-15 trillion globally in the next decade and the impact of it will be felt by virtually every industry. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will address the two key problems with the current state-of-the-art wireless sensor nodes. First is the limited battery-life and second is the cost of the sensor nodes. Low power standard compliant wireless communication plays a key role in extending the battery-life of a wireless sensor node. Experience with semiconductors dictates that complete system integration on a single piece of silicon (zero external components) not only reduces the cost of the system (in high volume) but also improves the systems? overall energy efficiency. This enables operation on harvested energy requiring no external battery. No external components imply that the microsystem needs to operate from energy sources with limited capacity. No external components also imply no quartz crystal frequency reference, which almost every microsystem uses as of today for frequency and timing reference. Off-chip crystal is a bulky component that poses a severe size limitation for low-profile millimeter scale microsystems. Eliminating off-chip crystal is a significant step forward towards energy autonomous millimetre-scale microsystems that have widespread commercial applications.
Errata
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Addenda
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Moondrop Entertainment
SBIR Phase I: Effective Digital Tool for Spanish to English Language Transfer
Contact
156 2nd street, suite 419
San Francisco, CA 94105–3724
NSF Award
1647709 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Phase I project will determine the efficacy of cutting-edge digital technologies for language acquisition by non-native English speakers. In particular, the hypothesis that Spanish-speaking students learn more effectively when given native-language educational tools will be tested. As they progress through the study, students will transition from Spanish-only to bilingual or English-only instruction appropriate to their level of attainment, using award-winning digital platforms and learning tools. Research suggests that technologies that leverage native language ability to calibrate achievement are more effective than English-only instruction. However, current methods are not designed to help those who are natively fluent in Spanish transfer their skills to a new language. As a consequence, more than 40% of today's non-native speakers drop out of school. Students who learn English fluently have been shown to excel in all academic areas and, therefore, become fuller participants in American civil society. If successful, this project will enhance an existing educational product (created by a small, minority-owned business and already in use in schools nationwide), and improve the educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands non-native English-speaking students in both language arts and the scientific disciplines core to the National Science Foundation's mission. Existing products in educational software offer limited comprehensible input - basic instruction in non-English languages - and typically do not employ best practices for the transference of Spanish language ability to English learning programs. This project proposes to employ an existing language-acquisition platform, combined with a set of Spanish-language and bilingual language scaffolding tools, to determine the most effective practices for English learning. Researchers will conduct a six-month pilot project in one or several Southern California public school districts, and success will be measured by the Bateria en Español and Woodcock Language Proficiency Tests. The project will leverage this platform to determine the optimal combination of language tools (sentence frames) and the best timeframe for transitioning instruction from Spanish to English (from Level 1 to Level 2 instruction). The project will employ best-practice techniques according to the Shelter Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and the Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC) standards. Results will be both qualitative and quantitative, and study results will be assessed using standard measures of statistical significance. The research team will be headed by a long-time educator and an educational software developer, and both leads are well qualified to conduct research of this type.
Errata
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Motion Scientific
SBIR Phase I: Augmented Reality for Arm and Hand Rehabilitation Post-stroke
Contact
1520 Brookhollow Drive
Santa Ana, CA 92705–5427
NSF Award
1721266 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,916
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in line with the grand challenge of developing teaching methods that optimize learning given the diversity of individual preferences and the complexity of each human brain. Because there is a great variability in stroke-induced lesions that result in marked differences in impairment and responsiveness to motor therapy, there is even a greater need to personalize motor training in post-stroke patients. The commercial impact of the personalized e-rehabilitation system, which will be developed and tested, derives from its value for patients, clinics, and insurers. For patients, the system will provide personalized training, and, because it will encapsulate research-based principles for effective and efficient neurorehabilitation of the upper extremity, it will largely improve patients' outcomes. For clinics, the system will increase revenues by increasing the number of visits per patient due to better outcomes and compliance, as well as the number of patients trained at once in clinic gyms. For insurers, the system will generate reports showing therapy effectiveness and, thus, validate reimbursements. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is improving functions of the upper extremities following neurological disorders that affect the motor system, in particular stroke, but also Parkinson's disease and traumatic brain injury. Because therapists treating patients with these disorders only have the time to deliver about a 1/10th of the necessary dose of motor training in the clinic, patients are requested to perform most of the training at home. A novel augmented reality training system will be developed and tested. The system will automatically deliver high doses of functional tasks via presentations of virtual targets or objects in the real world. Using state-of-the-art motion sensing technology, the system will accurately and precisely measure upper body movements, including hand opening and closing. Based on these measurements, it will maximize recovery by providing adaptive training. It will maximize patient engagement and motivation by providing real-time and summary feedback for task success and improvements.
Errata
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MouSensor
SBIR Phase I: A Chemical Detection Platform to Decode Human Olfaction
Contact
96 Baltic Street, 2B
Brooklyn, NY 11201–5917
NSF Award
1720679 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to digitize the human sense of smell and develop a platform to create "humanized mice" that that express any human odorant sensor in the nose of a mouse. Tools have been developed to determine the unique odor codes for each individual odor mixture that exists today ranging from the fragrances in a perfumer's palette to the Chardonnay in your wine cellar. Such an olfactory code will allow flavor and fragrance companies to predict the "smell" of certain odor mixtures, and to engineer new compounds in a rational and more streamlined manner. This technology will have a significant commercial impact on existing consumer products, including food, personal hygiene, household products, and perfumes, by offering a solution to more efficiently design pleasing scents and flavors or to formulate compounds that block repulsive odors. In addition, the proposed chemical detector platform under development to generate this olfactory code has additional applications as a biosensor. It may be used to generate disease-specific chemosignatures identified in bodily fluids like urine, sweat or blood, which may have application in clinical diagnostics and biomarker discovery. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to use human odor sensors produced in their native environment, an olfactory sensory neuron, and develop an ex vivo biochemical assay to screen for odor sensor activation in a quantitative way. Since human odor sensors (odorant receptors) have proven to be exceptionally difficult to express in vitro, high-throughput screening of odorants using conventional pharmaceutical methods have not been possible to date. As such, only 10% of all human odorant sensors have been linked to their single odor. The preliminary data show that the in vivo expression of human odor sensors in mouse olfactory sensory neurons are functional. The objective of this project is to show that in vivo expressed odor sensors, when removed from their biological model system, maintain their functionality (i.e., ex vivo). A secondary objective is to demonstrate that several types of odor receptors, each with an accepted odor profile, will respond as predicted when analyzed ex vivo using a biochemical assay measuring direct activation of odorant receptors. Successful assay development will allow the generation of a viable platform that may be expanded with additional odor receptors to further decode human olfaction.
Errata
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Multi3D LLC
STTR Phase I: Additive Manufacturing of Radio Frequency and Microwave Components from a Highly Conductive 3D Printing Filament
Contact
434 Golden Harvest Loop
Cary, NC 27519–9495
NSF Award
1721644 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This STTR Phase I project will enable the rapid prototyping and manufacturing of radio frequency (RF) components with 3D printing, and thereby reduce component cost, weight, and turnaround time. The global RF components market is expected to reach $17.54 billion by 2022, but fabrication techniques for commercial RF components have seen little innovation. Conventional RF manufacturing techniques, such machining and photolithography, are accurate and reliable, but they are also expensive, time-consuming and produce unnecessary waste. 3D printing enables fast and accurate manufacturing of custom components, as well as the creation of extremely complex geometries at low-cost for improved component performance. 3D printing can also enable users to design components to fit the design space available, removing the necessity of designing technology around commercially available parts, a critical feature in space and weight-sensitive aerospace applications. However, the materials available to 3D printing are mostly limited to non-conducting polymers. By creating a highly conductive 3D printing material, and testing the properties of RF components made with this filament, this project will make it possible to rapidly prototype and produce custom RF components, thereby accelerating research and improving the competitiveness of RF component manufacturing in the U.S. This STTR proposal will create a highly conductive (>2×10^5 S m-1) polymer filament that can be used with low-cost fused deposition modeling 3D printers to create a variety of high-value RF components. The filament will be engineered to print reliably, and retain its conductivity and mechanical integrity to temperatures of ~150 °C. To achieve these goals, the proposed work will determine the relationship between conductivity, the loading of conductive filler, the shape of the conductive filler, the filament mechanical properties, and the viscosity of the filament at printing temperatures. New methods will be developed to prevent oxidation of the conductive filler at elevated temperatures. A novel conductive filler will be developed to achieve these performance specifications at low cost. Concurrent with these material development efforts, novel RF components will be designed, simulated, and printed in order to build a comprehensive database with detailed designs and printing parameters for producing the RF components with a low failure rate. By the end of this project, users will be able to design, predict, and reliably print RF components with conductive filament on low-cost 3D printers.
Errata
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My Reviewers, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Reasoning, and Formative Feedback: Structuring Success for STEM Students
Contact
6324 South Queensway Dr
Temple Terrace, FL 33617–2437
NSF Award
1721749 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project uses artificial intelligence techniques to identify the ways that undergraduate students in scientific courses explicate problems, describe procedures, make claims, provide evidence, offer qualifications, and draw conclusions. With emphasis on forms of scientific reasoning, this new use of artificial intelligence, to identify language patterns associated with scientific reasoning, will allow students to improve their written laboratory reports before they are submitted, therefore freeing instructors to devote precious instructional time to preparing students for roles as practicing scientists. As the U.S. continues to experience rapid diversity growth, this focus on helping students through innovative uses of technology holds the potential to expand science education by cultivating student ability through autonomous writing and revision. Because artificial intelligence techniques are intended to expand capabilities, the techniques being used, available 24/4 on the web, will have the direct impact of growing our technical and scientific workforce, thus expanding the many dynamic pathways to STEM occupations. As the NSF observed in 2015 in its report Revisiting the STEM Workforce, these jobs are extensive and critical to innovation and competitiveness and are essential to the mutually reinforcing goals of individual and national prosperity and competitiveness. An investment in such a technology is thus an investment in national competitiveness, education policy, innovation, and workforce diversity. NSF SBIR support will be used to design and launch artificial intelligence techniques based on Deep Artificial Neural Network (DANN) as driven by Natural Language Processing (NLP), Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), and the latest advances in AI algorithms. Because NLP and LSA techniques are presently used solely to identify grammatical and organizational patterns, the application of DANN is high risk in making a leap from identifying patterns of language use to capturing patterns of scientific reasoning. Trained on a proprietary corpus of 100,000 lab reports scored and annotated by instructors and students using a single rubric, the AI application will identify logic structures of scientific reasoning in student laboratory reports. Once methodically identified, categorized according to ability level, and validated by STEM instructors, digital instruction will be used to help students improve their scientific reasoning processes. With the singular goal of structuring student success through asynchronous machine learning, this innovation holds the promise to figure meaningfully in discussions of national competitiveness, education policy, innovation, and diversity as related to STEM education.
Errata
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NP SYSTEMS INTEGRATION, LLC
STTR Phase I: Multi-faceted System for Document and Product Security
Contact
1314 Quincy St
Rapid City, SD 57701–2509
NSF Award
1722229 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/15/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
This STTR Phase I project will support the development of a powerful new track-and-trace platform in the global fight against counterfeit products in high-risk supply chains. From pharmaceuticals to aviation to defense, many industries now face a growing problem with maintaining visibility to the authentic products in their supply chain, while identifying black market and grey market products that could harm their customers and have serious impacts on national security. This project will build on interdisciplinary research from materials science, photonics and information technology to create an innovative new platform that connects physical supply chains with digital supply chains through the use of covert codes that are placed onto products. These codes are printed using nanoparticles that are only visible when exposed to a laser with very specific properties. The security platform that this research enables will provide U.S. industry with a robust new system for authenticating genuine products and maintaining visibility throughout the global supply chain. This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project develops a system designed to thwart counterfeiting. The system is based on 1) covert printed markings, carrying encoded information, that convert near infrared (NIR) excitation either to visible light or to shorter-wavelength NIR light, and 2) a proprietary reader-decoder system that is cyber-enabled to access secure data bases. The two major technical challenges addressed in this project both involve maximizing the overall signal-to-noise ratio of the system. The first challenge improves the long-term stability and up-converting nanoparticle payload-capacity of a novel, micro-emulsion (aqueous continuous-phase) ink. The second challenge creates micro- or nano-scale substrates that greatly amplify the up-conversion signal. Successfully overcoming these technical hurdles will significantly advance the readiness of the technology for commercialization and Phase II development. It is estimated that reaching the milestones specified within the specific research objectives will lead to a 250x enhancement of up-conversion intensity when using low excitation power densities. Such an enhancement would be transformational to the system and enable the use of lower laser powers in the reader/decoder device which in turn, would lower costs and greatly extend the utility of the system to, for example, a hand held, portable reader.
Errata
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NUTRAMAIZE LLC
STTR Phase I: Utilizing Natural Variation to Increase the Antioxidant Carotenoid Content in High Yielding Corn Varieties
Contact
713 North St
Lafayette, IN 47901–1159
NSF Award
1721692 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project will be the development and commercialization of a novel variety of corn that is high in carotenoids and orange in color, and with yields that are competitive with today's commercial hybrids. In the diets of Americans, two important antioxidant carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, are in low abundance. This deficiency has been associated with higher risk for degenerative diseases such as Age Related Macular Degeneration, and potentially, dementia. The ultimate goal of the proposed research is to get American's to consume more lutein and zeaxanthin, which will be achieved by increasing significantly the levels of these antioxidants in the most widely grown staple crop: Corn. Since corn is used in a wide variety of popular processed food formats, improving the carotenoid content of corn provides an opportunity to significantly increase the amount of health benefiting antioxidants that Americans consume, without changing consumers eating habits. However, in order for this strategy to be economically feasible, corn varieties that are high in carotenoids must be developed that are also high in grain yield. This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop genetic markers for favorable alleles of genes associated with carotenoid biosynthesis and stability. There is considerable genetic variation in genes associated with carotenoid biosynthesis and stability, however, the most favorable alleles are typically not found in varieties that are commercially relevant to US corn production. Thus, the development of genetic markers will enable favorable alleles to be moved from lower yielding germplasm that is not well adapted to the US Corn Belt into elite inbreds suitable for the production of yield-competitive commercial F1 hybrids for the US market. The primary goal of this Phase I research is to create user-friendly genetic markers associated with favorable alleles for 12 key genes associated with carotenoid biosynthesis and stability. These markers will then be validated for efficacy by testing their ability to create progenies with higher carotenoid production, particularly lutein and zeaxanthin. This will result in a set of markers and experimental breeding materials that can be used to rapidly develop fixed inbreds for use in the production of yield-competitive high carotenoid F1 hybrids.
Errata
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Addenda
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NanoSepex Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Membrane Distillation for Sea and Brackish Water Desalination, and the Treatment of Saline Waste Water
Contact
54 Huntley Way
Bridgewater, NJ 08807–9999
NSF Award
1647820 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this small business Innovative Research Phase 1 project is the possibility of inexpensive clean water generation from sea and brackish water. With rapidly increasing world population, portable water will be one of the most important technological challenges of this century. There is no unique ?one size fits all? approach to desalination. Many factors such as salt concentration, the presence of specific ions, energy cost, pretreatment requirements and capital investments are important considerations in selecting the desalination technology to be implemented. The carbon nanotube enhanced membrane distillation proposed here is a relatively low temperature process where industrial waste heat and solar heating can be used for desalination. Small water heaters such as the natural gas heaters used in homes can be used to generate high quality drinking water along with what is needed for domestic consumption. Another major application of this technology is in oil and gas drilling. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a water-intensive process. A typical frack well uses several million gallons of water over its lifetime and generates a highly saline ?produced water?. With its ability to handle high salt concentrations, the proposed approach is a viable alternative for treating this waste. The technical objectives in this project are to utilize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to create breakthrough membrane properties for desalination via membrane distillation (MD). In MD, a hydrophobic porous membrane separates a hot salt water feed and a cold permeate stream. As the heated brine passes on the membrane and is partially transformed to water vapor. The hydrophobicity of the membrane prevents the aqueous solution from entering the pores. However, freed from hydrogen bonding the water vapor passes through and is condensed on the permeate side of the membrane. The novel membranes referred to as carbon nanotube immobilized membranes (CNIM) will be developed by immobilizing CNTs into membrane pores where they will serve as molecular transporters and sorbents, thus providing additional pathways for water vapor transport. The other major advantage of CNIM is that it is less prone to fouling than conventional membranes. Key innovations of the proposal include the functionalization of CNTs for maximization of water vapor transport while minimizing fouling. Additional objectives include the study of fouling behavior of some commercially important water samples such as sea water, power plant effluents and produced water. Finally, a process optimization tool will be developed to optimize CNIM-MD design.
Errata
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Nanochon
SBIR Phase I: Development of Production-Ready 3D Printable Cartilage Repair Device for Clinical Use
Contact
5804 Fitzhugh St
Burke, VA 22015–3625
NSF Award
1721754 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will investigate the safety and efficacy of a new type of implantable medical device for cartilage repair in the knee. The implant is based on a novel material that is cartilage-like, as well 3D printed designs. Currently, cartilage damage in the knee is most effectively treated by a metallic joint replacement. However, qualifying patient age is 55 or older. There are several implants available to a younger and more active patient population, but they all suffer from major limitations such as low success rate, the size of the damage they treat, long recovery time or high cost. This project will mature an implantable device that can support weight and encouraging new bone and cartilage formation. The device is also made from a high performance yet low cost material, and 3D printing can create custom made and made to order devices that increase efficiency and further reduce cost. A low-cost device which can decrease recovery time and increase clinical success would greatly improve treatment of young patients, and prevent more advanced joint disease. The project supports the NSF?s mission by increasing knowledge surrounding the manufacturing and clinical use of biologically significant materials for orthopedics. This project will develop an ?on demand? device to adequately fill and support a critical-sized cartilage defect while quickly grafting to underlying subchondral bone, thus providing a new solution to the treatment of full-thickness cartilage tissue injury. Full-thickness cartilage lesions often are associated with a low rate of success and high patient morbidity (meaning 60% treatment failure) due to the need for adequate vasculature in the subchondral bone and integration with the cartilage graft. Researchers have used complex biomimetic nanomaterials and 3D printing to create strategies for joint repair. These materials work well in a controlled laboratory setting, but as is can only be printed using deposition or extrusion-based 3D printing techniques. This type of additive manufacturing is limited by resolution and print speed / volume when compared to commercial laser-based systems. The significance of this project is tied into improving clinical outcomes, with a more mechanically and biologically stable implant, while also addressing these manufacturing and cost issues. Thus, this project will validate the efficacy of an implantable cartilage repair device, made from new tissue growth materials and designs compatible with selective laser sintering, and provide critical scientific validation of a functional medical implant for orthopedic treatment.
Errata
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Navipoint Genomics, LLC
STTR Phase I: Development of a high-performance clinical genomics analysis platform to support precision medicine
Contact
2515 Dewes Lane
Naperville, IL 60564–1234
NSF Award
1648937 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project is to investigate the feasibility of developing a novel clinical genomics software analysis platform that may help reduce or eliminate some of the most significant challenges associated with genetic testing. In the US, genomics plays a role in 9 of the 10 leading causes of death including cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. As such, genetic testing is growing very rapidly, as are some of the associated challenges of scale, performance, cost and quality. Genomic medicine and genetic testing are key underpinnings of precision medicine, which may help lead to improved diagnosis, treatment, and even prevention of complex diseases and disorders. This feasibility study targets the development of an advanced analysis software platform to address analysis bottlenecks and ultimately improve time-to-treatment. The team will determine feasibility based on prototyping key technologies and methods to address current state limitations and point towards an improved future-state approach. The study will be done in close collaboration with actual clinical genomics users to deliver clear and compelling benefits to the target market and end-users and to provide a high-value solution to the rapidly growing market segment. This STTR Phase I project proposes to design and prototype a novel genomics software analysis platform. It will include access to a large work bench of bioinformatics applications and performance optimized clinical analysis workflows running on scalable public cloud-based, HIPAA-compliant computing infrastructure. The platform will be developed following the software-as-a-service model, designed to optimize performance and costs for next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. The project will entail development of advanced proprietary computational algorithms to parallelize execution of analysis tasks, and the creation of highly optimized genomics analysis workflows. These workflows will result in dramatic time-savings as well as reduced costs compared to current state approaches. Project efforts also will focus on the development of sophisticated resource provisioning logic to exploit scale and cost optimization running on public cloud infrastructure. In addition, the project will include the feasibility of developing a dual-purpose platform for R&D and clinical usage for faster testing and adoption of newer and advanced tools and procedures. The technology will help to improve patient care by delivering results substantially faster, with higher quality and at lower cost. Additionally, users will be able to construct and validate custom analysis workflows that meet HIPAA, CLIA-CAP, and other clinical requirements.
Errata
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Neocis Inc
SBIR Phase I: Hybrid Mechanical-Optical Patient Tracking for Robotic Surgery
Contact
2800 Biscayne Blvd
Miami, FL 33137–4528
NSF Award
1721384 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to innovate a novel patient tracking system, which will improve robotic surgery usability in an intra-operative environment. Robotic surgery is becoming ubiquitous across various medical procedures, and data continues to show improved clinical results. However, usability challenges impede broader adoption. This project will combine multiple tracking modalities, including mechanical and optical tracking, to create a hybrid tracking technology that allows for the advantages of each modality. This will optimize patient range of motion while minimizing line-of-sight challenges. This patient tracking technology can be used in conjunction with an existing robotic surgery system for dental implant procedures, which comprise a significant market opportunity. Dental implants are the standard of care for tooth replacement, and the dental implant market in the US is over $1 billion and growing nearly 8% per year with more than 14 million implants being placed annually worldwide. This technique can be used not only to revolutionize dental implant surgery, where the system is currently applied, but also to potentially create opportunities in other cranial procedures, which are otherwise burdened by invasive, cumbersome tracking technologies that impede intra-operative usability. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of the first hybrid patient tracking device that combines mechanical and optical tracking methods. Optical tracking systems require that cameras have direct line-of-sight to several tracked markers in the surgical field, which poses a significant challenge to the surgeon and assistants that have to carefully avoid blocking the camera's field-of-view. Mechanical tracking systems limit a patient's range of motion and can be bulky. The success of this project will lead to the development of a robotic surgery system for dental implant procedures that encompasses: 1) pre-operative CT-based planning software, 2) a visual guidance system that provides on-screen graphics like a GPS system, 3) a hybrid optical and mechanical tracking system that monitors the patient position, and 4) a robot arm that physically grasps the drill at the same time as the surgeon in order to provide haptic feedback, constraining the surgeon to match the planned osteotomy. This system enables minimally invasive, flapless surgery that is shown to result in less pain for the patient and faster surgery. It is designed to be easy to use and seamlessly integrate into the surgeon's workflow.
Errata
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NestSense, Inc.
STTR Phase I: Development of a Safety System for Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Contact
2935 MLK Jr Way, Unit C
Berkeley, CA 94703–2166
NSF Award
1648753 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 10/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is a safety system for improving the quality and reducing the cost of dementia care. Alzheimer's disease affects 5.4M in the US, including 1 in 9 over 65 and 1 in 3 over 85, and represents two thirds of all those affected by dementia. Despite that Alzheimer's disease is the single most expensive disease in the US and falls are the leading cause of hospitalization in Alzheimer's care, current tools offer little support. Although 3/4 of elderly fallers will experience a repeat fall, solutions like bed alarms and wearable fall detection systems offer no way to see how falls occur. Care staff have no way of learning from the first fall to reduce the likelihood of the second and must implement painful and expensive policies such as sending every unwitnessed fall to the emergency room in case a hit to the head occurred. The proposed project addresses this critical gap in Alzheimer's care by detecting falls based on camera video where falls can be reviewed by a human assistant in real-time and after the fact. Real-time review allows for instant notification if a hit to the head occurred, and review after the fact allows for determining the cause of the fall to see if changes in room layout and/or policy could be made. The primary aim of this project is to collect video data of real falls 1) to apply and extend state-of-the-art deep learning methods to perform high accuracy detection and 2) to validate that affected individuals, family, and care staff are accepting of a camera-based solution. Fall detection will be performed by extending the Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN) algorithm using domain adaptation techniques developed to robustly handle night-vision camera operation, occlusion, and non-standard human pose. Technical success will be measured by <1% missed detection and <50% false positive rate from this feasibility study. This first accuracy threshold will define a lower bound where, as has been demonstrated repeatedly in the deep-learning paradigm, accuracy will continue to improve as more data is collected.
Errata
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NeuraMedica LLC
SBIR Phase I: Development of a novel bioabsorbable clip and applicator for rapid closure of the dura mater during open and minimally invasive spine surgery
Contact
402 Beavercreek Rd #114
Oregon City, OR 97045–4127
NSF Award
1648203 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a novel, bioabsorbable surgical clip and applicator for rapid closure of the dura mater in open and minimally invasive spine surgery. The dura mater is the protective membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord and contains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Openings in the dura (durotomy) can result in CSF leakage which, if not repaired, can cause potentially fatal complications including spinal headaches, pseudomeningocele, and meningitis. Currently, the dura is closed using fine suture in a difficult and time-consuming process requiring upwards of 30 minutes of additional operating room time. Durotomies occur in approximately 10% of spinal surgeries and with 1.7M spinal surgeries, closure of incidental durotomies costs the healthcare system an estimated $408M each year. Utilization of a bioabsorbable clip and applicator system for dural closure will significantly increase the rate of repair, simplify the work of clinicians, and reduce surgery time and overall costs to the healthcare system. Use of this technology could be expanded to closure of cranial dura, as well as other surgical specialties such as urology, OB/GYN, and general surgery. The proposed project aims to develop a bioabsorbable, non-penetrating clip for rapid closure of the dura mater in spine surgery. The goal is to produce clips capable of closing dura and holding a water tight seal as compared to the current standard of care. This project will include developing a clip made entirely out of a biocompatible, bioabsorbable polymer that will safely degrade in the body after the dura has healed. The clips will also be radiolucent (invisible to x-ray and computed tomography imaging) to allow for unobstructed imaging of the surgical site. In addition, the clips will be non-penetrating to avoid lacerating the dura, reducing the risk of CSF leakage and possible fatal medical complications. This project also aims to develop an inexpensive, disposable applicator system that will apply the clips for dural closure. The applicator will be designed for use in both open and minimally invasive surgery and will house a reservoir of clips for complete dural closure without removal of the applicator from the surgical site for reloading.
Errata
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NewGrid, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Agile Model Reduction for Topology Optimization Software
Contact
37 Antrim Street
Cambridge, MA 02139–1103
NSF Award
1648071 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is a substantial increase in the efficiency and reliability of the power grid, which would result in lower electricity rates to consumers and facilitate the integration of renewable energy into the grid. This project will enable the use of topology optimization in the operation of the power transmission grid and allow operators to adapt the grid configuration to address changes in system conditions in real time. These adaptive reconfigurations increase the ability of the system to transfer power across the network in the directions that matter for economic, reliability, or environmental reasons. The economic benefits of topology optimization represent a 50% reduction in the cost of grid congestion, which translates to $1-4 billion/year production cost savings in the US. In addition, topology optimization would consistently reduce, or entirely remove, the otherwise frequent overloads on transmission facilities, thereby increasing the reliability of the grid. Topology optimization would also facilitate grid operations with large amounts of variable renewable resources, such as wind and solar, by relieving their curtailment by about 40%. Given the increase in renewable energy in the generation mix, topology optimization is expected to become even more effective and important in the future. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop fast and adaptive power system model reduction software fully integrated with topology optimization software. The technical challenge arises from the fact that finding a power flow solution for a large full nodal model of a power system requires the model to be reduced to an equivalent smaller model, to avoid numerical issues with the full model. For typical analyses, this reduction only needs to be performed once; however, for topology optimization, in the course of finding a good topology configuration, hundreds of different topologies need to be analyzed. Thus, the main technical hurdle preventing topology optimization from being used in online operations decision-support is the current state-of-the-art model reduction computation speed. As such, this project?s objective is to lower the computation time of the model reduction component by at least 10 times compared to existing capabilities in commercial software, when used as part of topology optimization routines. Model reduction calculations will be designed to take advantage of problem-specific attributes of the topology optimization routine, which will enable reduced computation time, by, for example, making use of partial recalculations and decomposition of the problem to support parallelization.
Errata
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NewPath Research L.L.C.
STTR Phase I: Nondestructive high-resolution measurement of semiconductor carrier density
Contact
2880 S. Main Street, Suite 214
Salt Lake City, UT 84115–3552
NSF Award
1648811 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,543
Start / end date
01/15/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will develop advanced tools for semiconductor metrology that are essential for high accuracy at finer resolution as progress continues to the finer lithography nodes. This progress is essential to satisfy the demand for greater performance in numerous consumer products as well as many other applications. The intellectual merit of this project lies in a newly-discovered optoelectronic effect which will provide much finer resolution in measuring the local density of the charge carriers in semiconductors, and this new method shows promise for achieving sub-nanometer resolution. Roadmaps for the semiconductor industry call for finer resolution, and this project is responding to specific needs outlined therein.
Errata
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Niche Biomedical LLC
SBIR Phase I: Gastrointestinal Therapeutic Device for Alleviating Postoperative Ileus
Contact
10724 Lindbrook Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90024–3102
NSF Award
1647917 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide patients with a new gastrointestinal therapeutic device for the alleviation of postoperative ileus (POI) and the restoration of gastrointestinal motility. POI is an impairment of gastrointestinal motility that often develops following abdominal surgery and causes significant discomfort and comorbidities to both patients and their families. Existing solutions in the prevention or treatment of POI based on management strategies and pharmaceutical therapies have limited efficacy and are highly anecdotal. There is also no effective way for clinicians to quantitatively monitor the severity and resolution of POI. The project is valuable and timely, and it represents a significant departure from the status quo. The success of this project would not only benefit the patients undergoing abdominal surgery and their families, but also would significantly reduce the health care expenditure in the United States by shortening the hospitalization stay as well as the associated medical resources. The developed technologies can be further served as research tools for various biomedical applications to investigate underlying biological mechanisms and the feasibility study of novel treatment method for different diseases. The proposed project is to develop and demonstrate a wireless extra-luminal closed-loop gastrointestinal modulation device, capable of simultaneously neuromodulating the gastrointestinal tract and recording gastrointestinal motility wirelessly for alleviating POI, resulting in enhancing gastrointestinal motility. POI costs over US $1.5 billion annually to its healthcare system. Safely shortening this length of stay by one day would produce significant dividends, leading to a market size of more than $700 million annually. The proposed project will address not only the design and optimization of a bioelectronic device, but also the integration and miniaturization of the wireless gastrointestinal therapeutic device. Animal study is to be conducted to validate the efficacy of the device in modulating and wirelessly recording of gastrointestinal motility, and its safety and reliability. If successful, the outcome will lead to a new bioelectronics medicine that advances the treatment of POI, and can be potentially expanded to other medical applications.
Errata
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Novol, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Bio-based polymers for optical applications
Contact
510 Porpoise Bay Ter
Sunnyvale, CA 94089–4737
NSF Award
1648374 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be in the area of optical materials. Optical materials are widely used in applications such as eyeglasses, cameras, cell phones, fiber-optic cables etc. Novol aims to push the frontiers of innovation in optical material research by creating new polymers with a much better balance of optical properties relative to glass while being tough and lightweight. The goal is to provide significant improvement in vision quality for patients with ophthalmic disorders. Particular benefit could be seen in pediatric and hyperopic prescription markets where choices of lens materials are restricted due to greater demand on lens properties. Long term project goals will focus on making lower-cost and more efficient lens assemblies for imaging, diagnostics and surveillance applications. A parallel aim of the research is to reduce the environmental impact of existing optical polymers, which are often made from highly toxic materials. Commercial opportunity presented through this work will not only benefit the end users but also the lens manufacturers through its ability to utilize safe and bio-derived monomers like sugars for making a highly important category of materials in today?s markets. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to demonstrate optical and mechanical advantages of a new class of polymers made from sugars. Sugars have versatile properties arising from their complex structures, presence of heteroatoms and multiple functional groups. This research aims to bring together principles of organic, polymer and biological chemistry to create a new type of highly transparent, strong and refractive polymers useful in many optical applications, including lenses. Recent innovation in optical materials has focused largely on increasing a singular lens property, refractive index, mainly to afford thinner lenses for prescription eyewear applications. Technical objectives of this work go beyond the need to create just high index optical polymers and focus on making polymers that balance high refractive index with other critical properties of optical materials such as low dispersion of light and desirable mechanical strength. Lens materials with such well-balanced properties are currently unknown and if created, will provide unique advantages for many commercial applications of lenses such as prescription eyewear, sports accessories, camera assemblies and device screens. Another technical objective of this effort will focus on co-polymerization of sugar derivatives with known synthetic polymers to improve the properties and bio-based content of existing polymers.
Errata
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Novome Biotechnologies, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Establishing a Synthetic Niche to Reliably Colonize the Human Gut with Engineered Bacterial Therapeutics
Contact
15 Westmont Drive
Daly City, CA 94015–3046
NSF Award
1648230 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to harness the power of engineered gut microbes for treating disease through the development of tools for controlling their abundance in patients. The underlying technology platform utilizes engineered gut bacteria that respond to gastrointestinal conditions to deliver new therapeutic activities to specific sites in the gut at the appropriate dose and time. This SBIR project will improve the reliability of these cell-based therapies by allowing for precise control over the abundance of engineered bacteria in the gut. Such control is key to ensuring a consistent therapeutic effect across different patient diets and microbiomes. Engineered bacteria have been used to deliver anti-inflammatory proteins to the gut to treat mice with a model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is a chronic disease with no cure and low response rates to current treatments, affecting 1.4 million Americans at an annual cost of $6.3 billion in the US alone. In addition to solving a critical remaining challenge in bringing this IBD therapy to the clinic, this SBIR project will enable broader application of engineered gut bacteria to treat additional diseases such as heart-disease, obesity and colorectal cancer. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop the first means of achieving reliable colonization of the gut by an engineered therapeutic microbe. Reliable colonization will be accomplished by engineering into a therapeutic strain the ability to grow on a control molecule that is safe for humans to consume, is rarely consumed by other gut bacteria, and will not be absorbed by the intestinal tissue. First, all genes that are suspected to be involved in growth on the control molecule will be systematically removed from a natural isolate to determine those that are required. Next, these genes will be transferred to a non-consuming strain to introduce the ability to grow on the control molecule. Finally, this newly engineered strain that was modified to grow on the control molecule will be introduced into mice that harbor a human microbiota, and the ability to get reliable colonization of these mice by feeding the mice the control molecule will be tested. This project will employ recent insights into the mechanisms governing microbiota structure to develop a key missing tool from current cell-based therapeutic approaches to achieve more predictable therapeutic outcomes.
Errata
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Novonate Inc
SBIR Phase I: A Medical Device to Protect and Stabilize Umbilical Catheters in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Contact
2627 Hanover St
Palo Alto, CA 94304–1118
NSF Award
1722123 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 03/31/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to standardize the process of securing and protecting umbilical cord catheters. These catheters are inserted into newborn babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and are used to provide life-saving nutrients and medication directly into their bloodstream. Unfortunately, the infection rate associated with these catheters is among the highest in the healthcare system. There is an important need for a simple medical device that reduces the risk of infection. A reduction in infection rate would save hospitals hundreds of thousands of dollars per year since they must currently absorb the cost of treating these infections. Most importantly, reducing umbilical catheter infection rates would save neonatal lives in any hospital setting. The proposed project will develop a standardized device that reliably secures umbilical cord catheters and protects the catheter insertion site from various sources of infection. The current standard of care for securing these catheters in NICUs across the United States is a roll of non-sterile tape that offers no protective barrier to the catheter insertion site. This is in stark contrast to medical devices that are used with adult catheters and help prevent bloodstream infections. The research objectives include evaluating different materials, testing the catheter securement mechanism, testing bacterial colonization rates, and evaluating the device?s biosafety for use on neonatal skin. This will be accomplished using custom-built testing rigs and protocols. We anticipate the successful development of a device with material specifications that allow for clinical testing in the NICU.
Errata
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O2 RegenTech LLC
SBIR Phase I: Tunable Oxygenating Biopolymer Hydrogel Dressings for Chronic Wound Care
Contact
411 Wolf Ledges Pkwy Ste 100
Akron, OH 44311–1051
NSF Award
1647555 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will investigate novel approaches for biopolymer materials that uniquely enable oxygen incorporation into hydrogel dressings to improve and accelerate chronic wound healing. The proposed work differs drastically from other research programs and commercial efforts to use oxygen in chronic wound healing as it is the first to combine oxygen, a moist and clean healing environment, and antimicrobial properties into one cost-effective and easy-to-use product. Current commercial oxygen-delivery therapies for wound care, e.g., hyperbaric oxygen chambers and topical oxygen devices, are intermittent, inconvenient to use, and require access to expensive specialized equipment. Successfully introducing oxygenating wound dressings to the market will allow addressing the serious and pervasive burden on healthcare facilities and the exorbitant costs associated with chronic wound care. In the USA alone, diabetic chronic wounds cause direct healthcare-related costs of $1.5 billion and total direct and indirect costs of $20 billion. The proposed research incorporates proprietary patent-pending biopolymer materials and processing methods to create oxygenating hydrogels that can be made into wound dressings. The dressings have the unique potential to provide uniform and tunable oxygenation to heal chronic wounds. Dressing embodiments, syntheses, and manufacturing techniques will be explored to improve product performance and characteristics, reduce costs, and demonstrate commercial feasibility and viability of the production process. Thus, knowledge of biomaterials for wound care will be significantly advanced by the proposed research. Prototype wound dressings will be characterized and tested based on customer requirements.
Errata
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ORB Technologies LLC
SBIR Phase I: Powerhouse: An Integrated End-Use Tied Solar Thermal and Power System
Contact
524 W. Third Street
Lexington, KY 40508–1235
NSF Award
1621952 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 10/31/2017
Abstract
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to test the feasibility of a residential-scale, integrated mechanical system that supplies all energy needs of a low energy home, including heating, cooling, hot water, and power with 100% site-generated, renewable energy. If proven feasible, the system is expected to be cost-competitive with common existing HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) systems on an installed cost basis. Phase I of this project will focus on the supply of thermal end uses including cooking, domestic hot water, and space heating through a combination of solar energy and thermal storage. The broader impact of this Phase I research is to make carbon-neutral living a practical, affordable, and widely available option. The technology has the potential to leverage deep penetration of renewable energy into the nation's electric power system, reduce carbon emissions of the power sector, and support cost-effective, risk-aware infrastructure investments by electric utilities in the long term. In addition, the commercialization of the proposed integrated mechanical system could expand the number of sites deemed to be appropriate for renewable energy, improve access to affordable housing in general, and create job opportunities in green construction. This project will test the feasibility of an integrated mechanical and power system to achieve a zero carbon home at zero incremental cost. Two components have been identified as being critical to the system-level cost efficiencies of the proposed system and will be investigated in Phase I: (1) a novel, convenient, indoor solar cooker and (2) a low-cost, roof-integrated, solar thermal collector with high-efficiency operation in space heating mode. The research targets include demonstration of a new means of cooking using stored thermal energy; construction of a solar thermal collector prototype suitable for cold climates that costs less than half that of glazed flat plate collectors, and development of control logic for thermal and electrical loads to meet power access and comfort expectations of the U.S. market. The project will test the cooking quality and cooking times of a new solar cooking method and build a first prototype cooker; prototype and measure the efficiency of the new solar thermal collector; develop a dynamic simulation of the system as part of an ultra-low energy home to test scheduling of load controls; and project the economics of the proposed system.
Errata
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Omics Data Automation, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Robust Medical Data Aggregation to Enable Advanced Approaches to Precision Medicine
Contact
12655 Beaverdam Road
Beaverton, OR 97005–2129
NSF Award
1721343 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,903
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enhance the impact of precision medicine by simultaneously addressing large-scale medical data aggregation and optimized computation that is cost-effective and to extend the utility of medical informatics well beyond current practice. Patient medical information comes in many diverse forms: genomic sequences, medical images, and clinical observations. The integration of these various data sources across patient populations have shown to reveal patterns and similarities among patients, which inform treatment options. With advances in imaging and genomic sequencing technologies, the sheer volume of available information is growing exponentially, straining current computational approaches, and creating an imminent need for scalable data integration. The ability to overcome this data mountain opens the door to support advanced analytics to support precision medicine and provide enhanced services to medical institutions. With these innovations, patients receive faster and more accurate diagnoses and treatments, clinicians deliver verified treatment decisions through patient cohort comparison, hospitals have better standard of care, and society is overall empowered by supporting global treatment options and well informed pharmaceutical development. The proposed project will develop a scalable aggregation and analysis framework to integrate various patient data modalities to inform personalized diagnosis and therapy in precision medicine. Currently, information from different modalities exists in silos, hindering joint analysis and insight. While there has been research trying to leverage machine learning techniques in medical imaging, these efforts have generally focused on a single domain and not been able to integrate facts from other domains. This project will aggregate features from genomics, imaging and clinical characterization of patients into scalable databases and then use a distributed, parallel framework to enable efficient analytics on the resultant joint representation. The resulting platform will enable identification of cohorts based on both genotypes and phenotypes and empower powerful machine learning analyses to inform clinical decision systems or identification of new personalized therapies.
Errata
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OpenRefactory, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: OpenRefactory/C: An Infrastructure to Provide Automated Power Tools for C Programmers
Contact
1027 Jungfrau CT
Milpitas, CA 95035–6927
NSF Award
1622201 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,997
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is about empowering C program developers with correct and complex program transformation tools that they can use to not only improve the quality of C programs but also make the programs more secure against well-known vulnerabilities. C, in spite of its popularity, has integrated development environments (IDEs) with a limited portfolio of such power tools, with limited scalability and limited applicability to real-world programs. Successfully addressing the limitations present in existing tools and providing a robust program transformation infrastructure should fundamentally change how developers work on C code since refactoring is an integral part of software development practices for other programming languages. This will impact both how C programs are written and how they are maintained and evolved. The proposed work also explored behavior-enhancing program transformations that can fix security vulnerabilities in C programs. The work on behavior-enhancing transformations should open a new paradigm of power tools that can be made available to programmers in general (not limited to C programmers). This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will foster the development of new algorithms and data structures needed to implement scalable, robust automated program transformation tools for C. It will focus on the parts of this problem that have been inadequately addressed in prior work - specifically, sound handling of the C preprocessor and deep program analysis. At the same time, the work will address the heterogeneity of C platforms, e.g., different dialects, different configurations based on underlying hardware, different IDEs, etc. The Principle Investigator led an NSF-supported research effort to address the research problems in the last three years and has developed a large research prototype (over 500 KLOC). The proposed work brings many of the research results to practice.
Errata
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Openspace
SBIR Phase I: Fast Creation of Photorealistic 3D Models using Consumer Hardware
Contact
3802 23rd St
San Francisco, CA 94114–3321
NSF Award
1721381 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be large: a successful project would transform the construction industry, making it far more efficient by reducing legal conflicts, schedule slips and poor decision making; the project has the potential to make real estate sales and marketing more efficient by allowing buyers and sellers to accurately represent properties online, reducing the need for on-site visits. The proposed work will enable the fast and easy creation of 100% complete visual documentation of a physical space; this documentation can be generated many times throughout the course of construction. In so doing, the proposed project will allow professionals in the construction industry to track progress and communicate with their teams far more efficiently than ever before. A second exciting effect of the proposal will be the creation of vast, detailed, never before seen datasets of construction projects and real estate, allowing technical innovations in artificial intelligence and computer vision to impact one of the largest industries in the nation and the world. For example, systems could be trained to automatically spot safety concerns, augmenting the efforts of safety managers and keeping workers safer than ever before. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a fast, easy to use and cheap method to create photorealistic 3D models using off the shelf consumer hardware. Technical hurdles include validating the quality and efficacy of models generated with consumer hardware, near instantaneous creation of 3D models on device, and automatic creation of routes through the 3D space without human annotation. With these hurdles cleared, advanced work might include automated analytics between and among 3D models of the same site captured over time. Because of the system's ease of use, it will enable the collection of large, totally novel datasets. The goal of the research is to produce a prototype that a layperson can use to create a 3D model of a physical site in order to document it. The plan to reach these goals includes iterative software development against the hurdles listed above, as well as continuous user feedback to guide and refine development.
Errata
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Orochem Technologies Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Molecular Modeling as a Screening Tool to Separate Enantiomers of Chiral Compounds Using Polysaccharide-based Chiral Stationary Phases for Orphan Drugs
Contact
340 Shuman Boulevard
Naperville, IL 60563–1268
NSF Award
1621012 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop an effective cost saving screening technology based on molecular modeling for separating molecules that are identical except for geometric differences, that are present in the development of pure orphan drugs. The separation of these molecules from one another is both important and challenging, since while one molecular form can have beneficial therapeutic value, the other molecular form can at best be benign but often can also be toxic. The implementation of this proposed strategy should have a significant impact on the rapid development of new medicines especially those being formulated by drug manufacturers with limited R&D resources. Ultimately, a successful outcome from this project will accelerate drug discovery in pharmaceutical companies and allow for unique drug formulations to be available in the market to consumers that are relying on them for treatment and to extend their life. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to develop a predictive molecular model which can guide experimentation in purifying chiral molecules for pharmaceutical companies to use in drug formulations. Over the past decade, the efforts in the pharmaceutical community have shifted to studying pure chiral drugs rather than racemic mixtures due to the discovery that certain enantiomers may have negative implications on the human body by causing toxicity or certain defects. Owed to the possibility of harmful side effects from racemic mixtures, the commercial focus has turned to purifying pharmaceutical drugs to create an enantio-pure chiral product. The modeling tools to be built will take advantage of significant proprietary data Orochem has developed in the past few years as part of their R&D activities in developing new and innovative methods for the separation of racemic mixtures of enantiomers. The initial molecular model will demonstrate interaction between a Chiral Stationary Phase, mobile phase, and enantiomers known to be resolved by the particular system. The dynamic model will allow examination of conformations of the enantiomer within the chiral separation system in a more detailed fashion since molecular modeling input parameters include detail on the bond, angle, and dihedral energies present in molecules of the racemate. Overall, molecular simulations of chromatographic separations will lessen the time of discovery of systems for separating these chiral isomers by leading experimental investigation and aiding research scientists at pharmaceutical companies to identify suitable chiral stationary phases apriori. This will reduce both the cost and time of bringing new drugs to market.
Errata
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OtoNexus Medical Technologies, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Air-coupled MEMS-based Ultrasound Transducer for Assessment of Tympanic Membrane Motion
Contact
1546 NW 56th Street
Seattle, WA 98107–0000
NSF Award
1722228 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will focus on a novel medical ultrasound device for the accurate diagnosis of middle ear infections. The device uses a small transducer that transmits ultrasound energy into the ear canal to determine whether a middle ear infection is present, and whether an antibiotic is appropriate. The focus will be to design and optimize an air-coupled MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) ultrasound transducer. The device will be a cost-effective method to improve diagnoses and reduce antibiotics in a market in which 17.6M doctor visits per year are coded directly to middle ear infections in the U.S. Ear infections are the #1 indication for which antibiotics are prescribed for children and the #1 cause for surgery in childhood, costing more than $10B annually in the U.S. Accessing this market will require consistent device performance with low variability and rare failure, as well as the ability to perform manufacturing with a high yield. This SBIR Phase I project will seek to enable the development of the first known commercial medical product utilizing air-coupled (capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer) CMUT technology. CMUTs have been proposed for many applications, but very few have moved beyond the early research stage due to the high degree of technical difficulty and cost required to translate a research device into one that generates consistent transducer performance with low variability and rare failure rate. The work of this proposal facilitates the investigators? goal by establishing fast automated assessment of CMUT performance, both electrically and mechanically. The investigators will design and construct test systems to rapidly and automatically evaluate electromechanical and acoustical performance of CMUT designs. The electromechanical system automatically evaluates electrical impedance across frequency and bias voltage. The acoustical test system automatically evaluates pulse-echo directivity and sensitivity of a given CMUT, across bias voltage and pulsing parameters. The authors propose to use the two test systems to determine electromechanical tests which can be done in the foundry at the wafer level, which are predictive of acoustic performance. NSF funding is being sought to make this challenging but promising CMUT technology a commercial reality.
Errata
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PATH EX
STTR Phase I: Rapid Blood Cleansing Device to Combat Infection
Contact
2732 Rosedale Pl
Nashville, TN 37211–2075
NSF Award
1721476 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to develop a dialysis-like platform for selective bacterial separation and removal from blood. This technology could potentially serve as a novel blood cleansing therapy for the treatment of disease, including sepsis. Sepsis, a life threatening organ dysfunction caused by infection, is a condition where the risk of death is extremely high (25%-72%), yet no effective treatments exist. In the US, over 1M people suffer from sepsis annually. Sepsis is the most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals, costing more than $20 billion per year. There are currently no approved therapies in the US to treat sepsis. This developing technology will serve as an effective, next-generation sepsis treatment through the direct removal of pathogens and associated toxins from blood. The technology in this project holds many advantages over competitors, including increased effectiveness, hemocompatibility, elimination of pore size limitations, and elimination of clogging issues. Commercialization of this innovation may reduce sepsis-associated length of stay, decrease mortality rates, and potentially reduce the current $23.7B annual US expenditure for sepsis. Fundamental understanding generated by this work has alternative applications, including the development of diagnostic devices for rapid infection detection. The proposed project seeks to leverage the unique properties of a novel, fluidic platform to provide a more effective and rapid method of bacterial and endotoxin removal from circulation for the treatment of sepsis. Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and no effective therapy exists for the syndrome. The anticipated research involves 1) scale up of the device for operation at flow rates suitable for humans, 2) developing features for bacteria and endotoxin capture, and 3) evaluation of the rate of bacterial and endotoxin capture from fluid circulating through the scaled-up fluidic platform. It is anticipated that this work will result in a fluidic platform capable of removing pathogens and associated toxins from blood at a clinically translatable flow rate. The goal of this work is to provide an easy to use, cost-effective fluidic platform for separation and capture of bacteria and associated toxins from circulating fluid and to facilitate the use offluidic platforms as research tools. Successful completion of these studies will establish the commercial viability of the fluidic platform and enable the subsequent development of a prototype device for field testing.
Errata
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PC Krause and Associates, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Passive Radiative Composite Material
Contact
3000 Kent Avenue, Suite C1-100
West Lafayette, IN 47906–1108
NSF Award
1648007 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,999
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be observed through a direct reduction in the energy consumption required by large industrial facilities, commercial buildings, campuses, and homes. Due to reduced cooling demands as a result of carefully designed radiative properties, the sustainability of federal and industry facilities will be significantly improved with the installation of PRC roofing material for building energy management. A complementary function of PRC roofing is found with the potential for enhanced condensation from the ultra-cool surface, presenting the ability to integrate PRC for improved rooftop water harvesting, directly impacting critical water supply issues and the expensive effects of drought on regional agriculture. The market demand for cool roofing materials has exceeded $750M, annually, and is expected to grow with recent energy regulations. PRC roofing material can expect to compete in a growing industry due to non-trivial improvement over state-of-the-art options in commercial cool roofing products and the economic fabrication method identified in the PRC conceptual design stage. Opportunities extend beyond structural thermal management to facilities dedicated to condensation of atmospheric water vapor in isolated regions without access to satisfactory water supplies, and portable use for emergency water harvesting. The proposed project will provide the critical design, testing, and experimental validation needed to transition PRC technology into the commercial sector. Designs based on electromagnetic and thermal modeling include composite material options capable of providing passive radiative flux of over 100 Watts per square meter of installed material. This passive cooling advantage?relative to current commercial cool roofing materials?is expected to create significant long-term cost-savings and reduction in fossil fuel usage for climate controlled structures. PRC material properties designed to be selective across the ultraviolet-visible-infrared spectrum offer the opportunity for intelligent thermal management through reflection of visible and near-infrared portions of the radiative spectrum, while emitting strongly in the 8-13 ìm atmospheric transmission window. A primary objective of the SBIR project is to optimize PRC designs considering full spectrum properties with three criteria in mind: thermal efficiency improvement, prototype fabrication, and large batch manufacturing economy. The second primary objective is sub-scale fabrication and spectral characterization of the PRC roofing material. Subsequent demonstration of a functional PRC sample with quantified passive cooling power is key to the goals of attracting licensing clients and/or investments for commercial-grade manufacturing.
Errata
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PHOTONLAB, INC.
SBIR Phase I: Tandem-ABALONE Detector Module
Contact
3315 Oyster Bay Ave
Davis, CA 95616–2677
NSF Award
1722351 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is many-fold. The novel photosensor technology developed within this project will enable a new generation of ultrasensitive experiments in the broad field of astroparticle physics?designed and constructed on previously impossible scales This technology is advantageous as detectors of ultrahigh energy cosmic radiation, neutrinos, dark matter and more. In addition, our technology addresses societal needs, including advancements in medical imaging and nuclear security. In medical application, the same core technology can enable the production of cost-effective ultrasensitive whole-body-enclosing medical scanners (patent pending) for preventive, virtually harmless (low-dose) cancer screening of the symptom-free population (a currently non-existent service). For nuclear security application, this technology can enable widespread and cost-effective detection of illicit fissionable and radioactive materials (also a currently non-existent possibility). In general, this project can lead to the creation of a highly profitable and multi-faceted hi-tech industry. The proposed project will meet the needs of our lead customer/partner, an international collaboration aiming at the detection of cosmic neutrino radiation at the South Pole site with unprecedentedly high sensitivity. Such sensitivity will be achieved in a volume of 10km^3 of ice, instrumented with 2500 m deep chains of detectors, and only a detector concept and cost-effective hi-tech production method like ours can reach that goal. However, harsh conditions at the experimental site require specific modifications to the core design of our invention. Pairs of modified photosensors will need to be packed into each detector unit, which will be electrically grounded on its surface, so the standard high-voltage connection must be swapped with the ground-potential. Consequently, the photodiode will be moved from the middle to the periphery, and specially designed light pipes will bring the light to them. At the same time, we will design a high-voltage power supply that will be integrated within the narrow spacing between the two photosensors. Additionally, this assembly must operate at -70 oC. Therefore, we will produce modified photosensors, design and produce all the additional components and interfaces, test the detectors under near-realistic conditions, and share them with our customer/partner for further evaluation and feedback.
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Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: A Novel Photobiological Water Treatment Process for More Efficient Water Recovery in Advanced Water Reclamation and Brackish Groundwater Desalination Facilities
Contact
17520 Newhope St Ste 200
Fountain Valley, CA 92708–8200
NSF Award
1648495 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is the potential to impact water scarcity in arid and semi-arid geographies within the US and beyond. The proposed photobiological water treatment process utilizes the natural power of photosynthetic microorganisms (diatoms) and sunlight without the use of hazardous chemicals or non-renewable energy to remove contaminants such as silica, calcium, iron, manganese, phosphorus and nitrogen from the concentrated waste streams (brines) from advanced water reclamation and brackish groundwater desalination facilities. Additional clean, (re)usable water can be obtained from the treated brine quite cost-effectively, while reducing the volume of brine by >50% and producing algal biomass as a marketable by-product. This technology will reduce the environmental impact and also potentially improve the efficiency of water treatment. This Phase I project will have broader impacts on the advancement of science and technology related to environmental microbiology, water reuse and water resource management. The experimental data to be generated in this project could reveal many characteristics and fundamental chemistry and biology of brackish water diatoms that have not been studied in detail, as compared with those found in the freshwater and marine environment. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to investigate the feasibility of a diatom-based photobiological process for scalant and nutrient removal to recover more fresh water from reverse osmosis concentrate; to characterize the byproducts of this process including organic matter and algal biomass; and to investigate the scale-up challenges. The challenges and opportunities include: (1) the optimization of the biomass growth and constituent removal, including diatom strain screening, (2) impacts of toxic elements, chlorine residuals, salinity, pH, temperature, light sources, intensity, and duration, (3) formation and characterization of byproducts, (4) removal of synthetic organic compounds, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, (5) photobiological reactor configuration and hydraulics, and (6) possible uses and economic values of algal biomass. Among them, the major challenges are the possible soluble organic byproduct formation and the relatively modest silica uptake rate. Bench- and pilot-scale experiments will be conducted to optimize the photobiological process to enable a full-scale application with a reasonable footprint. Careful diatom strain/species selection and more detailed chemical and biochemical analyses will also facilitate further process optimization and understanding of the fate of byproducts, their impacts on subsequent desalination, and possible control strategies.
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Packetized Energy Technologies, Inc.
STTR Phase I: Distributed and Scalable Coordination of Solar Photovoltaic and Battery Storage Systems
Contact
31 BIRCHWOOD LN
Burlington, VT 05408–2719
NSF Award
1722008 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the development and validation of technologies that enable electric energy systems to operate reliably and affordably with very large amounts of renewable energy. Clean, reliable and affordable electricity is vital to modern society. However the variability of wind and solar generation can lead to catastrophic grid reliability problems if real-time demand does not match the supply. This project will develop and demonstrate a system to manage distributed (e.g., rooftop) solar photovoltaic systems operating with and without local electrical energy storage (i.e., batteries) in a way that extracts the most value for the customer, while simultaneously improving the reliability of the electricity infrastructure. The project will leverage algorithms inspired by those used by millions of devices to send data over the Internet. Like Internet data, energy will be delivered in discrete energy packets. These packets are coordinated independently, anonymously, and fairly to simultaneously solve real-world grid problems and provide value to end-users. The result of this project will be an integrated software-as-a-service and hardware solution in which customers gain incentives for participating and electricity industry members realize savings by reducing infrastructure needs, such as additional fossil fuel generation. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will enable the decentralized, randomized, and bottom-up coordination of two- and four-quadrant power-electronic inverters attached to solar photovoltaic and electric battery storage systems. In contrast to competing, centralized, top-down scheduling approaches, the proposed technology enables inverters to regulate both active and reactive power output according to an automaton that undergoes probabilistic state-transitions based on both real-time local measurements and communication with an aggregator. By incorporating local measurements, the method ensures that the energy needs of the end-use consumer are met while providing flexibility to a load aggregator or electric utility. This flexibility will enable distribution utilities to manage feeder power flows, losses, and voltage constraints. The probabilistic nature of the coordination prevents harmful synchronization effects, such as oscillations, while maintaining privacy of end-consumers through anonymous interactions akin to how data packets are routed on the Internet. Upon completion of the project, a commercially viable, human-friendly software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology will be demonstrated that implements this decentralized approach to coordinate distributed inverters in a manner that is compatible with modern grid operations.
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ParaBricks LLC
SBIR Phase I: Whole Genome Sequencing Data to Insight in One Hour
Contact
2985 Hickory Ln
Ann Arbor, MI 48104–2840
NSF Award
1647990 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to provide deep insights into the DNA of patients in one hour at one-fourth the cost. This will allow hospitals, clinics and research centers to delve faster into the genetic information of the patients and return essential insights to physicians, leading to faster decisions on therapy. Analyzing DNA data holds the promise of detecting several diseases and can also help in pinpointing their genetic origins, which will be key for treatment of vulnerable cases such as newborn babies, people with rare diseases, and pregnant women. By providing the analysis of whole DNA data in one hour as compared to several days, DNA tests can become mainstream, thereby reducing anxiety among patients and their relatives. As the number of patients for which deep DNA analysis will be required is doubling every year, this project aims to meet the exploding demands of large scale computational genomics of the future and enable deep DNA analysis for all patients. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to use the power of state of the art cloud computing platforms to provide analysis for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) data in one hour. Several key researchers have shown that data from WGS is a critical requirement for accurate insights and detailed analysis of underlying diseases for various diseases including leukemia, breast Cancer, ADHD, Alzheimer's, congenital heart disease, HIV susceptibility, as well as others as information in the non-coding region is required. However, the computational analysis for WGS data takes several days and will be the major bottleneck for utilizing key WGS data to personalize the treatment for the affected patient. This project aims to use several high performance computing techniques on the cloud that will be tailored for NGS analyses and can accelerate the process by more than 40 times. This project uses a disruptive technology that breaks algorithms to work independently on nodes on the cloud and the team has created a collection of software optimizations to improve the utilization of cloud resources. This toolbox of optimizations is being applied to commonly used software tools in computational genomics for faster analysis.
Errata
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Paradigm Surgical LLC
STTR Phase I: Development and Validation of the SafeClose Mesh Augmentation System for Hernia Prevention
Contact
3401 Grays Ferry Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19146–2701
NSF Award
1648854 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This STTR Phase I project looks to create a solution to the vast problem that hernia has become in the United States by developing a system that prevents hernia before it occurs. There are an estimated 300,000 hernia repairs performed each year in the US. Incisional hernia (IH) occurs in up to 70% in high-risk populations. The hernia epidemic is significant and is linked to reduced quality of life and $3.2 billion/year in healthcare expenditures for hernia repair. IH can be prevented using prophylactic mesh, which involves placement of tensioned mesh to reinforce abdominal fascia closures before herniation occurs. Prophylactic mesh has been shown to reduce the risk of IH from 35.9% to 1.5%. However, although prophylactic mesh produces outstanding results, it has not become widely adopted in part due to the technical challenge that the procedure poses and added operative time. This project aims to create a system that makes the prophylactic mesh procedure simpler, more reliable, and faster. This project offers an efficient solution to the hernia epidemic by addressing key surgeon-level barriers to adoption of prophylactic mesh and therefore will foster more widespread use of the procedure. Broader use of hernia prevention will improve outcomes, quality of life, and reduce the costs associated with IH. This project proposes the development of a hand-held system that simplifies and reduces the time to perform prophylactic mesh augmentation by integrating multiple discrete operative tasks including locating, tensioning, and affixing mesh onto the abdominal fascia. The system provides an optimized strategy for prophylactic mesh placement by leveraging biomechanical principles of both the abdominal wall and mesh to provide a quick, standardized, and reliable method to strengthen abdominal incisions and as a result minimize the risk of herniation. The system is comprised of three main components: the applicator, the fastener-anchor, and the mesh itself. The fastener-anchor represents a core functionality of the technology while serving two purposes: (1.) interaction/engagement and subsequent tension-setting of the mesh via the applicator system; and (2.) penetration of the fascia and affixation of the mesh onto the fascia. The applicator is a simple, ergonomic tool that interfaces with the fastener-anchors, allowing the surgeon to control the spatial position, tension, and placement of the mesh. This project aims to accomplish two main goals: (1.) to refine the device design, including achieving optimal security and reliability of engagement between the applicator and the fastener-anchors and (2.) to assess the biomechanical strength and speed of the proposed technology compared to current standards of care. Through iterative device prototyping, testing, and refinement, a fully functional device will be developed.
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PatientsVoices, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Software for Developing Consumer-Driven Health Care Solutions
Contact
5317 NW Bluff Way
Kansas City, MO 64152–3473
NSF Award
1647616 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of software that automatically identifies and labels problems that patients encounter when they receive care. This information tells health care providers exactly what they need to fix to improve patient care. Applications of the software include: a) the developing different software versions for different health care situations, the technology can be used to improve the patient experience in clinics, emergency departments, primary care settings, outpatient centers, etc.; b) Early interventions. Healthcare leaders are asking for an early warning system. By recording patient conversations with nurses and doctors while they are still in the hospital, this feedback can be used to identify and resolve problems before the patient is discharged; c) New health care delivery models. One hospital wants to reduce the length of stay for heart patients; doctors want to be sure that patients are ready to go home. The software is analyzing the stories of heart patients who did well versus patients who had problems when they left the hospital early. Their feedback will help keep patients out of the hospital and if they are admitted, improve their care before and after they leave; d) Following the doctor's orders. When chronic care patients don't follow through on the treatment plan recommended by their doctor, their health problems often get worse. This software can be used to collect feedback from chronically ill patients and identify patterns in why these patients are not following doctor's orders solutions that motivate and engage patients can be implemented; and e) Other industries. This software can be used to analyze patient feedback during clinical trials. The resulting information will make it easier to recruit and retain patients in clinical trials as well as improve clinical outcomes. Ultimately, results from these analyses could be used to inform FDA decision making within the pharmaceutical industry. The proposed project develops software that uses advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to analyze patients? responses about their health care experiences in interviews and open response survey questions in order to provide hospitals with concrete, actionable information on how to improve care and patient outcomes. To date, hospitals have relied primarily on surveys to inform their attempts to improve patient experiences. This research will develop an NLP application for mining patient feedback across health care settings. Data where patients freely tell their "stories" provides a clearer and more precise view of the patient's experience than a standard survey with ratings on predefined questions. The challenge is that the variability of expression and experiences requires sophisticated techniques to be able to classify the information, determine the sentiment, and extract essential details that can provide actionable recommendations to hospitals. The team proposes a combination of data annotation, pattern matching, and machine learning techniques for classification and information extraction of core concepts like problem root causes from unstructured patient feedback. Since interviews comprise much of the most informative data, we will also evaluate which speech recognition technologies can best convert audio to text, for subsequent classification and information extraction.
Errata
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Addenda
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Perceive, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Large-Scale Behavioral Analysis Utilizing Convolutional Neural Networks and Its Application to In-store Retail Marketing
Contact
1904 King Eider Ct
West Lafayette, IN 47906–6503
NSF Award
1622082 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop an infrastructure for exposing and interpreting a previously unavailable dataset: fine-grained human interaction with a physical environment. Humans are continuously building and shaping the world but there exists little data to examine these effects. Beyond retail, this technology could affect how teachers layout classrooms, how disaster workers provide relief, or how factories keep their workers safe. The subtle physical details that affect humans everyday will be understood and investigated in ways not possible without the proposed system. This technology will benefit society specifically by improving the economic efficiency of retailers and broadly by increasing scientific understanding of how humans interact with their physical environments. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project uses a neural network and generic 3D scene reconstruction in combination with low-cost, wireless cameras to model an environment with accurate object classification and spatial relationships. Recently, neural networks have proven adept at a variety of image classification tasks but their applications in video classification, namely for human actions, have been less explored. 3D scene reconstruction has made similar advances, progressing from images to videos but has always required some prior knowledge of the physical scene. Within the past year, multiple groups have proposed methods for completely generic scene reconstruction from multiple view cameras. Finally, energy harvesting methods for devices such as cameras and wireless transmitters have been demonstrated to be feasible in laboratory experiments but have not been incorporated into commercial products. In this project the two computer vision algorithms will be developed in parallel with camera hardware so that the software and hardware systems may be integrated and demonstrated by the end of the project.
Errata
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Perceptive Automata, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Machine Vision for Content-based Video Marketing Analytics
Contact
1 Broadway 5th Fl
Cambridge, MA 02142–1190
NSF Award
1621689 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,632
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to protect consumer privacy while continuing to enable the ad-supported Internet model. Current tracking-based consumer targeting approaches inherently erode consumer privacy, surreptitiously tracking users across many different web sites in an effort to gather demographic and behavioral data. On the flip side of the coin, marketers need to collect such data to successfully reach their audiences, and the revenue that marketers pour into advertising online has become an essential component of the economics of the internet. Today, this delicate balance of competing pros and cons is further threatened by the rise of ad-blocking software, which erodes the value of internet ad placement. The video marketing analytics capability developed in this project will limit marketers' need for invasive consumer data, while improving consumer experience. In the commercial realm, marketers would value the opportunity to target their ads in the most emotionally consonant, least disruptive, and most engaging manner possible. This technology will provide marketers with the capability to watch millions of videos algorithmically, thus enabling a more streamlined and customized viewer experience than has ever before been possible on television or on the Internet. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to develop commercial applications for Perceptual Annotation, a technology developed with NSF funding that allows detailed measurements of human performance to be infused into a machine learning process, allowing the machine learner to both perform better and to perform in a way that is more consistent with humans. By adding this new category of human-derived supervisory signal into a machine learning process, the proposers have demonstrated that it is possible to significantly boost machine vision performance, allowing machines to generalize better to new, previously unseen images. While the company's technology has been rigorously validated on large-scale "in the wild" academic datasets, a major technical drive in the proposed SBIR Phase I activities will be to shift the company's efforts to the analysis of "live," enormous, and ever-expanding data sets such as online videos. A second major drive of the proposed Phase I work will be the construction of "second stage" machine learning models that take perceptual-annotation-based machine ratings as an input and output actionable marketing decisions.
Errata
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Peroxygen Systems, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Advanced alkaline electrolyzer stack for hydrogen peroxide onsite production
Contact
1020 Commerce Pk Dr Ste 400
Oak Ridge, TN 37830–8026
NSF Award
1722155 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is a significant advance in the production of hydrogen peroxide. The project, if successful, will yield an on-site electrolytic generation method that reduces the cost of peroxide production by up to 50% compared to the traditional centralized chemical process. By reducing cost, hydrogen peroxide can be used more widely as an oxidizer in bleaching, wastewater treatment, and other processes, ultimately lowering chlorine pollution by replacing chlorine-based oxidizers. The paper/pulp and textiles industry in particular will benefit from lower cost bleaching chemicals and reduced effluent treatment costs. The electrolytic method reduces environmental pollution and eliminates the need for transportation of explosive high concentration hydrogen peroxide. The innovative electrolyzer design used for hydrogen peroxide production will enhance the scientific knowledge base on how to build improved electrode structures that support multiphase flow, and may have applications in other industrial electrolysis systems, including the chlor-alkali process. This STTR Phase I project proposes to demonstrate a scaled-up high efficiency alkaline hydrogen peroxide electrolyzer system. The most difficult challenge to overcome for scale-up relates to the electrode manufacturing process. The electrodes are made by coating a catalyst-containing ink onto a conductive substrate. The composition of the ink is non-standard, and has not been coated at commercial scale. The Phase I research will involve detailed investigations of ink formulation, coating, and processing conditions for roll-to-roll manufacturing of the oxygen reduction electrode. The roll-to-roll manufactured electrodes will be tested in pilot-scale hardware to demonstrate their durability and performance. Manufacturing-friendly multilayer coatings will be developed and investigated to overcome challenges associated with multiphase flow. After completing pilot-scale electrode manufacturing, the electrolyzer stack will be assembled and tested at an experimental bleaching facility to ensure that the electrolytically-generated alkaline peroxide can be used as a bleaching chemical. The development of the multiphase electrode in this Phase I project will enable improvements in other electrolytic processes using multiphase flows.
Errata
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PharmaPrinter LLC
SBIR Phase I: Pre-filled Cartridges for Personalized Medicine
Contact
PO Box 3938
West Lafayette, IN 47996–3938
NSF Award
1721752 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/01/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project aims to design, build, test, and refine a cartridge of medicine for use with an inkjet printer for printing medicine that was developed with past NSF ERC support for academic research and I-Corps support for market research. Similar to how a conventional inkjet printer deposits small quantities of liquid ink on blank paper, the printer deposits precisely measured quantities of medicine on blank carriers to make the final pharmaceutical product. Due to its smaller size and relatively quick production times, the printer enables and is currently aimed at personalized medicine applications, wherein dosages and other product factors are customized to individual named patients by their medical practitioner and drug products are made for the patient to suit based on such a patient-specific prescription. The detailed development of medicine cartridges has not been attempted before, and is specifically pursued in this SBIR Phase I project to demonstrate cleanliness, address potential counterfeiting concerns, provide ease of use, and provide tracking if required. Such cartridges are envisioned to enhance the impact of printed medicine for personalized medicine applications, thereby improving the level of healthcare for this nation?s ill and creating a high-value just-in-time pharmaceutical production market. It is technologically very challenging to adapt the cartridge concept to pharmaceutical applications. These challenges include: the need for the cartridge to maintain cleanliness and integrity during storage and in use; the need to ensure that final products match required composition and dissolution profiles; the need to ensure that the contents of a cartridge are shelf-stable over its life; the prevention of any accidental introduction of impurities or deliberate counterfeiting; and the need to preclude operator error in wrong-substance or wrong-dose dispensing. Further challenges include the need to select and optimize cartridge size and form factors. Preliminary designs for cartridges have been identified, and this SBIR Phase I support will enable such designs to be built, tested and improved. Such cartridges will be filled with both inert materials and with certain specific drug substances identified as being of commercial interest. The cartridge and printer are planned to recognize each other to prevent operator transcription error. Testing for composition and impurities is planned with standard analytical chemistry techniques used in the pharmaceutical sector, such as high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) or mass spectrometry. The end result is a robust and reliable cartridge, to transform personalized medicine for the better for everyone.
Errata
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Physics Front LLC
STTR Phase I: Cloud-Based Pluggable Learning Analytics Engine for Educational Games
Contact
71 TERRACE VIEW DR
Scotts Valley, CA 95066–4105
NSF Award
1549811 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2016 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This STTR Phase I project will carry out research and development on a cloud-based pluggable data analytics engine to address the educational game market?s need of real-time assessment for learning. Educational games will become much more successful if learning from games can be well quantified so that buyers will be assured that the time spent using games is productive. However, currently game makers are not qualified or funded to provide the statistics and cognitive assessment required for such analysis. This project will thus build a prototype of commercial pluggable third-party engine that traces the growth of the learner's knowledge in real time without interference and provides customized assessment summary and feedback to educational stakeholders. The prototype will be developed and tested with games that teach data literacy in three high schools representing diverse demographic groups. The testing in a commercial environment will begin in collaboration with two successful educational game companies. The innovative use of data-intensive assessment technology will aid in currently struggling STEM education in the United States by providing streamlined and accurate information while learning occurs. This project will also help launch a new business that has potential to boost the market value of educational games and digital learning. This STTR Phase I project utilizes the Monte-Carlo Bayesian Knowledge Tracing (MC-BKT) algorithm. This algorithm was recently developed in-house based on techniques distilled through years of research in physics, education, and computation, and makes it possible to perform individualized knowledge tracing in real-time for the first time. In prior research, post hoc MC-BKT analysis led to identification of up to seven distinct patterns associated with knowledge growth during game segments, with 84% accuracy as compared with human judgments based on video analysis of game screens and players' discourse. This project will conduct research to test whether this assessment potential of the MC-BKT algorithm can be extended beyond initial research to players with games involving different content domains, in a greater number of classrooms with diverse demographics (involving around 600 high school students), and in real time. Based on research results, this project will build a prototype commercial product around the MC-BKT algorithm in the form of a cloud-based pluggable engine. Two popular commercial educational games as well as various games internally sourced within this project will be test-connected to the engine for real-time testing of knowledge tracing, learning problem detection, and feedback delivery to teachers, parents, game designers, and learners.
Errata
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Planck Aerosystems Inc
STTR Phase I: Autonomous Landing of sUAS onto Moving Platforms
Contact
710 13th St Unit 307
San Diego, CA 92101–7351
NSF Award
1648563 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,912
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the expansion of autonomous unmanned aerial systems (UAS, or drones) to new maritime operational environments and commercial markets. The proposed technology will enable small UAS to operate from vessels moving at sea, without the need for a dedicated pilot or installed hardware, even while far from shore and beyond the reach of established communication networks. Small UAS can offer the same aerial perspective provided by manned helicopters at a fraction of the size, cost, and risk. Real-time aerial imagery from UAS will supply maritime operators with invaluable information about their surroundings at sea, which is not available by any other means. This information is critical for many maritime applications, including fishing, ocean monitoring, scientific exploration, maritime surveillance, and search, and rescue. This information will offer a particularly large and immediate impact for 98% of worldwide commercial fishing vessels (those that do not carry embarked manned helicopters for fish-finding) by dramatically reducing their fuel costs; providing net economic and environmental gains for the industry. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop algorithms and software to enable small UAS autonomously and reliably land onto a moving platform at sea. Commercially-available small UAS can offer invaluable real-time aerial imagery for maritime operators. But, this technology is not currently in widespread use due to technological barriers. In particular, the key enabling technology is the ability to autonomously and reliably land a small UAS onto a moving platform. The research objective is to develop algorithms and software that enable small UAS to autonomously operate from moving vessels at sea. Computer vision algorithms automatically detect the host vessel and the dedicated landing area. Data fusion algorithms estimate the relative drone-boat position and orientation in real time, including compensation for vessel roll, pitch, & heave. Precision control algorithms optimize the drone?s trajectory for save, reliable, autonomous launch and landing. A prototype system will be built by integrating the STTR-developed software with commercially available hardware components.
Errata
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PolySpectra, Inc
SBIR Phase I: Modular Manufacturing - Democratizing Functional Materials Printing
Contact
2342 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley,, CA 94704–1517
NSF Award
1647467 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/01/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project will research and develop new functional materials for advanced additive manufacturing. The goal of this project is to develop high performance materials for light activated 3D printers. If successful, this will enable new tools for manufacturing and research. Applications of this project would enable affordable, waste-free, and energy-efficient manufacturing with the goal of lowering the barriers to innovation. polySpectra has developed a new class of modular 3D printing resins, capable of manufacturing production quality parts with tailored geometry and chemical functionality in a single step. This process is called functional lithography - it unlocks the ability to simultaneously define the form and function of advanced materials. The application of functional lithography to additive manufacturing enables production-ready parts to be directly 3D-printed, whereas existing materials can only make prototypes, mock-ups or toys. The goal of this project is to discover and develop new materials using functional lithography, to push the limits of the materials that are available in additive manufacturing.
Errata
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Potsdam Sensors LLC
STTR Phase I: Novel real-time particulate matter (PM) sensor for air quality measurements
Contact
65 Main St
Potsdam, NY 13676–4039
NSF Award
1648756 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project will lie in the improved ability to accurately monitor indoor and outdoor airborne particles using the proposed low-cost, broad size-range, aerosol sensor to be developed in this research project. Inhalation of aerosol particles can result in adverse human health effects, with the critical parameter from a health effect perspective being the concentration of particles smaller than 2.5µm, i.e. PM2.5. Measurements of PM2.5 are critical to understand the extent of particulate exposure that populations experience in different environments. This project?s proposed approach is to measure particle concentrations by charging them and sensing their abundance using sensitive low-current circuits. This approach allows for measurements over a broad size range and at low-cost. Most of the currently available aerosol sensors are only sensitive to particles larger than ~ 500 nm, and hence are unreliable for ambient measurements. The proposed sensor will, thus, likely generate a significant interest in the aerosol research community and the ambient air quality monitoring industry. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to demonstrate the feasibility of accurate aerosol concentration measurements over a size range of 10 nm to 2.5 µm using an electrical-sensing technique. The intellectual merit of the proposed project lies in the novel combination of electrical-mobility aerosol classification, printed electrodes, low-current sensing electronics, and advanced inversion algorithms to result in a low-cost real-time, wide size-range, aerosol sensor. With printed electrodes, the signal response from the sensor can be tailored to be proportional to total particle volume concentration, and, thus, to PM2.5. The research objectives are to demonstrate the accuracy of volume concentration measurements made with our sensor for a range of particle types and size distributions. The successful completion of this project should result in a prototype sensor that can accurately measure total aerosol concentrations in different ambient conditions. This would be a first critical step towards the final development of a low-cost sensor for large-scale air quality measurements.
Errata
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PowerFlex Systems
SBIR Phase I: Adaptive Charging Network for EV and Energy Services
Contact
2151 Mission College Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95054–0000
NSF Award
1721326 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will address two societal needs. It will enable mass charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) at minimal costs, and will enable the provisioning of ancillary services to help integrate renewable energy sources. This is critical as electricity generation and transportation consume about 2/3 of all US energy and emit more than 1/2 of all US greenhouse gases. To drastically reduce greenhouse gases will therefore require mass adoption of electric vehicles and renewable generation. CA has a mandate to have 1.5 million zero emission vehicles by 2025 and, currently, half of the nation's EVs are in CA. It has been estimated that the proposed technology can potentially save CA $144M annually in operating costs and $1.1B in capital cost when CA reaches its ambitious goal by 2025. By drastically decreasing the cost of mass EV charging, the proposed technology will also help reduce 5.5 million US tons of greenhouse gases annually in CA. This project will therefore make an impact in both clean transportation and clean energy. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop theory and algorithms for real-time distributed optimization and control of smart EV chargers. Multiple parties in the smart grid ecosystem, from electricity wholesale market operator, to utility companies, to aggregators, and individual parking facility operators, have their own individual objectives, and make local decisions based on local information, yet their decisions interact over the grid through power flows in intricate ways. The key to an efficient solution is a set of recent mathematical techniques to decompose the global problem into a set of subproblems, to be solved by individual parties, that communicate through local message exchanges. The core challenges this project will overcome pertain to optimization decomposition, scalability, stability, global optimality, and robustness.
Errata
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Prenosis, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Point of Care Device for High Frequency Stratification of Patient Populations at Risk of Sepsis
Contact
210 Hazelwood Drive Ste 103
Champaign, IL 61822–7488
NSF Award
1721610 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$150,000
Start / end date
07/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a device for better, early screening of sepsis. Sepsis costs the U.S. health care system over $24 billion every year, with as many as 3.1 million cases that claim over 300,000 lives annually. One out of every two to three hospitals deaths in the U.S. is due to sepsis. There are an estimated >19 million cases worldwide, and some reports have estimated that 1 person dies from sepsis every 4 seconds. Mortality rates due to severe sepsis are between 20% and 50%. The most urgent problem is a lack of accurate early screening methods. Survival rates drop by 7.6% per hour treatment is delayed. Current screening for sepsis utilizes the SIRS criteria, which include temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and total WBC count. These parameters have very low specificity for early screening of sepsis. This project will replace these parameters with a panel of cell and protein biomarkers to provide highly specific and sensitive detection and stratification for sepsis. A hand-held point-of-care device and a one-time-use cartridge capable of providing total white blood count, lymphocyte, granulocyte/monocyte, and CD64 Neutrophils all from one drop of blood in a single cartridge will be developed. Such a system could save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare costs every year in the United States. This project will develop a point of care sensor that can measure cell counts and proteins from a drop of blood. The technology combines the power of microfluidics, microfabrication, and on-chip electrically based cell and particle counting to develop a revolutionary new technology that combines electrical coulter counting with immuno-capture of cells and particles. The developed device would be the only one with the capability to offer in a single device the critical information of hematology analyzers, flow cytometers, protein, and DNA assays. This project enables the power of all of these tools to be harnessed from a single inherently simple, powerful, and scalable, platform. Such a device could dramatically increase both the frequency and the multiplexing of sampling of biomarkers from patient populations. In this proposal, commercial grade cartridges will be used to develop protein measurements for procalcitonin, an FDA approved biomarker for sepsis, in addition to cell counting, from drop of blood of healthy and sick patients from hospital settings.
Errata
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Prosapia Genetics LLC
STTR Phase I: Advanced Computational System for Assessing Genetic Provenance in Crop Plants and its Practical Applications
Contact
534 San Andres Drive
Solana Beach, CA 92075–2140
NSF Award
1622840 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,416
Start / end date
07/01/2016 – 08/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project will be the development of a highly accurate genotype analysis technique and the computational pipeline for assessing genetic provenance in crop plants. The commercial potential of the proposed products and services is based on the need to increase crop yield and accelerate breeding programs. The proposed technology will revolutionize the field of plant selection by enabling breeders to analyze genotypes of individual plants and optimize crosses. Provided that most of ancestry data on major crops are not publicly available, the platform opens up a range of opportunities for researchers and practitioners. Since it is organism-independent, the software will be applied for analysis of biodiversity and adaptation of species to climate change. These species include, for example, fruit fly, Arabidopsis, Medicago, rat, mouse, as well as endangered plant and animal species such as pandas, bonobos, or whales. Organism-specific pipelines for predicting phenotype using a whole-genome prediction and modeling approach will be established. Free educational versions of the solution will be provided to academic institutions. This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop and test a novel software modeling solution that will be the first-in-class commercial "whole genome" tool in the booming agro-genomics segment, designed to deduce the exact percentages of genetic lines that went into given organism solely based on its genotype. This tool will help farmers to effectively select plants with required traits, and also will automatically identify possible genetic contamination that is a common problem in plant species. The solution will be cloud based with a friendly front end enabling breeders and biologists to easily operate and gain insights from complex plant datasets. This visualization tool will be customizable for various species and types of geographical/climate data. Visual integration of geographical, phenotypical, and genomic data will help breeders deducing relationship among individual plants, strains, and variants. The phenotypes will include yield, height, photosynthetic performances, metabolites concentrations, fitness, drought tolerance, cold tolerance, and quantitative disease resistance. The software will be a revolutionary discovery tool enabling agro-companies to significantly reduce number of breeding experiments, and make the breeding process predictable and efficient.
Errata
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QC Ware Corp.
STTR Phase I: A Cloud-Based Development Framework and Tool Suite for an Adiabatic Quantum Computer
Contact
350 North Akron Road
Mountain View, CA 94035–0001
NSF Award
1648832 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,258
Start / end date
01/01/2017 – 12/31/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will be to enable affordable access to quantum annealing quantum computers and to take the complexity out of the programming and application hosting tasks, which currently poses a major barrier of entry for potential users. The company expects quantum computing technology in the next few years to disrupt significant portions of the high-performance-computing environment for optimization problems, which has previously been characterized by slow and incremental performance improvements. This project would yield a platform that both increases the efficiency and lowers the cost of analyzing complex optimization problems, which could spur fast-paced innovation in wide areas of the economy that tackle such issues. These sectors include energy distribution, pharmaceutical design, cancer research, data analytics, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, planning and scheduling activities, financial services such as risk management and portfolio optimization, and basic and applied research in physics and chemistry. In each of these disciplines, there are optimization-based computational problems that are currently intractable. The results of this research should enable a much larger community of experts to use the power of quantum computing to solve these important but currently intractable problems. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project addresses the need for a cloud-based platform for using quantum annealing computing technology. Quantum annealing computers have come to market in the last few years, and research laboratories and universities have used these machines to explore algorithms that could eventually be solved efficiently on them. Despite advances in performance of quantum annealing computers, little effort has been directed toward developing programming environments and tools that provide simple and inexpensive access to quantum computing capabilities. This project researches a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) with a suite of front-end and back-end tools that efficiently transform high-level computing problems into binary optimization formulations suitable for quantum annealing, simplifying and automating the low-level details and domain knowledge currently necessary to perform useful calculations. This project will further develop the PaaS to include a classical-quantum computing environment and framework for analysis of large data sets using standard distributed computing tools. The research explores the best software tools and platform methods to integrate emerging quantum computing capabilities into workflows by streamlining and making affordable the processing of data and by decomposing real-world problems into sub-problems amenable to quantum computers of today and in the future.
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QELZAL CORPORATION
SBIR Phase I: High Performance Sense and Avoid
Contact
4225 EXECUTIVE SQ STE 420
La Jolla, CA 92037–1499
NSF Award
1648560 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$224,950
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to develop and provide novel computation capabilities to the marketplace that mimic and apply the way our brain computes beyond deep learning systems and much closer to how the brain actually operates. Although the technology is initially targeted for the commercial drone market, the technology can be applied to consumer and hobbyist drone market, self-driving cars and advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous navigation and guiding systems with obstacle avoidance for robots, ballistics tracking and counter-drone capabilities for military and defense, and surveillance and counter-drone for public safety and security. This project has the potential to revolutionize robotic and machine vision by providing capabilities that simply do not exist today. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project investigates novel ways, algorithms and software implementations that leverage expertise in natural vision systems, deep learning and machine learning to make use of electro-optical sensors, which respond in new ways to form the basis of an Airborne Based Sense and Avoid (ABSAA) system. It leverages the benefits of bio-inspired computation, and investigates how to combine information from multiple sensors in a common representation. The project will study novel ways to achieve robust detection, segmentation, clustering, discrimination and classification with these novel sensors. It will also extend methods and algorithms for state estimation, tracking and prediction in the inherent sensor representation. The project will also address the real-time constraints and will attempt to leverage recent hardware implementations, which can provide a complete embedded system for ABSAA system that is low SWaP (size, weight and power) and in the long run, low cost as well because it has the potential to benefit from economy of scale. The theoretical and algorithmic advances generated by the project have the potential to affect machine and robotic vision well beyond the project focused application to ABSAA.
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Qatch Technologies LLC
STTR Phase I: Microfluidic quartz resonator based blood plasma coagulation monitors
Contact
505 Alamance Rd Ste#109
Burlington, NC 27215–5379
NSF Award
1721833 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
06/15/2017 – 05/31/2018
Abstract
This STTR Phase I project aims to develop a novel microfluidic sensor technology that can measure blood coagulation times (specifically prothrombin time-PT, measured in international normalized ratio-INR) at point-of-care (POC). PT/INR has to be monitored frequently for millions of patients on oral Warfarin (an anticoagulant that prevents clotting) to keep them in a safe therapeutic range. The POC sensor developed in this project is expected to provide PT/INR measurements independent of factors influencing the blood counts of the patients, making it safer and more accurate. The technological foundation of the proposed research is to combine acoustic sensing with microfluidics. The preliminary data demonstrates that the proposed sensor can measure viscosity and density of extremely small liquid volumes (~ 10 nL) accurately. The successful implementation and commercialization of this innovation will result in a big market share in the rapidly growing POC coagulation test market and create hundreds of jobs. The research and development process during this STTR will also contribute to the full understanding of this technology?s potential, which can result in other self/home testing instruments for patients. The proposed novel coagulation monitor is based on microfluidic quartz resonator sensors. Quartz resonator sensors can be used to measure changes in fluid viscosity or mass coupled to their surfaces (both of which occur during coagulation of blood) by monitoring the associated changes in the resonance frequency. The technology underlying quartz resonators is well established, simple and robust, and amenable to provide portable and compact instrumentation. The innovation here is the integrated microfluidics, which will bring the benefits of extremely low liquid volume requirements, control over how liquid is observed by the sensor (which can be used to enhance sensor output due to the coagulation), and on-chip blood plasma separation. The key objectives of the proposed research are to determine the microfluidics design and the surface functionalization that will optimize a microfluidic quartz resonator sensor?s coagulation measurement sensitivity, and to implement on-chip blood plasma separation for PT/INR measurements.
Errata
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Addenda
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Quantified Habits Inc.
SBIR Phase I: Digital Health Coaching Using Context-sensitive Data
Contact
2231 Crystal Dr
Arlington, VA 22202–3726
NSF Award
1648331 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project lies in helping people cultivate healthy lifestyles. Over the last few decades, an epidemic of lifestyle diseases has developed in the United States. Unhealthy lifestyles, such as inactivity, poor nutrition and sedentary behaviors are driving up the prevalence of chronic disease such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease. As of 2012, about 117 million people had one or more chronic health conditions. Although chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes are among the most common and costly of all diseases, simply adopting healthy lifestyles can prevent many of these chronic diseases. About 86% of all health care spending in 2010 was for chronic medical conditions. Preventive approaches can offset current healthcare costs. However, prevention is typically implemented as labor-intensive coaching or mobile health apps that lack sufficient personalization to be effective. The technology platform being developed in this project will combine the best of both mobile and in-person coaching for a fraction of the cost of in-person coaching. The proposed project will help people to cultivate lifestyle changes. For a lifestyle disease patient, it is very difficult to change lifelong habits to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Hence, compliance with the recommendations of a doctor or coach is a long standing problem. Several reminder and tracker apps attempt to help with compliance and adoption of healthy lifestyle. Unlike such solutions, our approach is unique in its ability to proactively intervene with highly targeted interventions at the right moment, which is when compliance is most likely. Such moments will be captured through the ability of the platform to incorporate context-sensitivity. The platform will understand the context of each patient and will enable the coach to deliver interventional messages at the right moment, thereby increasing the likelihood of compliance and assisting with formation of healthy habits. The platform also provides scalability without significant loss in personalization.
Errata
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Addenda
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Quantitative Radiology Solutions LLC
STTR Phase I: Automated object contouring methods and software for head and neck radiotherapy planning
Contact
3624 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104–0000
NSF Award
1549509 – STTR PHASE I
Award amount to date
$269,998
Start / end date
01/15/2016 – 11/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is in the field of radiation therapy (RT) for head & neck cancer patients. RT planning involves designing a radiation treatment regimen so that tumors are irradiated to definitive doses while minimizing irradiation to normal structures. For devising an optimal RT plan, target tumors and critical anatomic structures need to be accurately contoured on medical images. In current clinical practice, organ contour delineation is performed mostly manually due to lack of automated contouring software. This makes RT planning error prone, hampers throughput, and does not allow re-contouring to handle changes taking place during RT. Such changes can cause under dosing to tumor and overdosing to normal surrounding organs. In 2015, 1,658,370 new cancer cases are estimated to occur in the US, where nearly two-thirds will have RT. Given that there are over 2,100 RT centers in the US, there is a strong commercial opportunity for producing an auto-contouring software system. Expected clinical outcomes are significantly improved speed, throughput, and accuracy of contouring compared to current clinical practice, and improved patient outcomes and cost-savings. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project addresses a technical hurdle related to auto-contouring in RT planning for cancer patients. Current technical challenges for auto-contouring occur since available contouring methods have been developed mostly for a specific object on images of a particular modality. This project will overcome these hurdles through a novel automatic anatomy recognition methodology which will employ anatomy models derived from patient populations by including all major objects in a body region. The models will codify the rich object anatomic relationship, and will exploit this information to automatically locate and contour objects in any given patient image. The project will have two aims. Aim 1 involves the development of the method and prototype software for contouring major head & neck organs on CT and PET/CT images. Models will be built from already existing image and contour data of 200 cancer patients. Aim 1 outcome will be prototype software technically validated to be accurate within 1 pixel boundary distance compared to ground truth and requiring 3 minutes or less per study. Aim 2 will be a preliminary clinical assessment of the software in RT planning in patients with head & neck malignancies.
Errata
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Addenda
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Qubitekk, Inc.
SBIR Phase I: On-Demand Single Photon Source for Quantum Networks
Contact
1400 Norris Rd.
Bakersfield, CA 93308–2232
NSF Award
1648508 – SMALL BUSINESS PHASE I
Award amount to date
$225,000
Start / end date
12/15/2016 – 09/30/2017
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project relates to quantum communication networks being developed to vastly improve network security. The Information Age has had a profound effect on humans and societies across the world. To maintain the benefits afforded by global information access, an improved, long-term solution for secure communications is needed in response to newly emerging cyber threats. Quantum networks, which use the laws of quantum physics to provide secure, encrypted channels that cannot be hacked, can guarantee the long-term security of network communications. The future development and deployment of these ultra-secure quantum networks represents a multi-billion dollar global market that U.S. companies are well positioned to serve. Beyond these economic benefits, the development of quantum networks will advance the development of quantum technologies that can ultimately lead to advanced sensors, faster computational tools, and a better understanding of the true nature of quantum physics. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a deterministic, on-demand single photon source that will enable quantum networks to be deployed over large areas, something that currently is not possible. The company will prototype a novel quantum source design critical to the realization of quantum teleportation repeaters. These repeaters can enable the long-distance transmission of quantum states and are required for wide-area quantum networks. An on-demand single photon source with a single photon generation probability rate of greater than 20% will be demonstrated in this Phase I effort. If successful, this scalable design offers a direct path to the higher single-photon generation probability rates required for successful integration and demonstration of quantum teleportation repeaters.
Errata
Please report errors in award information by writing to awardsearch@nsf.gov.
Addenda
If you're a member of this company, you may submit updates and supplemental company information via GitHub.
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Quo Vadis, LLC
SBIR Phase I: Databas