STTR Phase I: Implementation of a Biometric Data Software Platform to Augment Mental Health Treatment

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project is to improve outcomes and decrease costs in the mental health space by engaging patients starting with their first therapy session through objective progress reporting and post-session motivation. Patients and clinicians alike will be able to track and assess treatment progress through self-reported and physiological measures. This innovation builds upon the strong academic, government, and industry partnerships that will advance research and innovation in the field of biotechnology. By demonstrating improved outcomes and decreased costs associated with the utilization of technology, this will pave the way for insurance reimbursement (using existing CPT codes) to accelerate market adoption. Additionally, as education of patients and the public improves regarding mental health and PTSD in particular, the negative stigma surrounding these conditions will decrease and more people in need will seek help rather than resorting to unhealthy behavior or even suicide. This STTR Phase I project proposes to represent an innovative approach that provides easy to interpret results tailored to mental health providers, patients, and other non-technical users. Current mental health treatment and assessment has lacked qualitative, scientifically-based measurement. The need for a scientific measurement is evident, as about 8 percent of all adults - 1 of 13 people in this country will develop PTSD during their lifetime. Currently, 60% of adults diagnosed with a mental illness don't receive mental health treatment; using proven science and physiologic measurements as the foundation for improving treatment and monitoring progress for PTSD can help to alleviate some of the stigma surrounding mental illnesses. This project aims to demonstrate how implementing a web-based platform can improve PTSD treatment by providing physiologically relevant feedback to the patient and by providing a tool for the clinician to tailor the therapy to the individual patient. Patients will have their subjective measures and physiological data visualized throughout treatment on a software platform, with progress being tracked through validated assessment scales. Patients will be compared to others in treatment as usual. Results should yield improved quality of life and decrease long term healthcare costs for those that use the platform. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.