PHASE I COMPUTERIZED BIO-CHRONO-MONITOR AND DECISION HELPER

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN INEXPENSIVE AND COST-EFFECTIVE GENERAL PURPOSE DATA ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR THERESEARCH LABORATORY. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL BE COMPATIBLEWITH COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE TELEMETRY EQUIPMENT. IN ITS INITIAL FORM IT IS INTENDED FOR USE IN CHRONOBIOLOGIC GASTROINTESTINAL STUDIES ON LABORATORY ANIMALS. THE SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE OF MONITORING UP TO 96 CHANNELS OF TEMPERATURE AND ACTIVITY ALONE, OR WITH HEART RATE. IT WILLALSO BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE TIMING OF AMBIENT CONDITIONS OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS. THE INITIAL SYSTEM WILL INCLUDE A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS FOR ANALYSIS ON-LINE (WHILE DATA COLLECTION IS OCCURRING) AND IN BATCH MODE. THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES MOSTLY INTEGRATION OF EXISTING HARDWAREAND SOFTWARE INTO A SINGLE PACKAGE. HENCE, WE WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE A WORKING AND MANUFACTURABLE PROTOTYPE IN SIX MONTHS. A 24 CHANNEL VERSION IS EXPECTED TO SELL FOR UNDER $5,800, WHILE A 96 CHANNEL VERSION WOULD COST UNDER $6,500. A STRIPPED-DOWN 12 CHANNEL VERSION WOULD SELL FOR UNDER $2,750. PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN MARKETING A LABORATORY DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM THAT WE MANUFACTURE HAS INDICATED A STRONG INTEREST IN AN INSTRUMENT IN THIS PRICE RANGE WITH THE PROPOSED CAPABILITIES.