SBIR Phase II: Biofeedback system for adults with Parkinsons disease

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to create a product for adults with speech disorders who have reduced ability to communicate with the people in their environment. This project will positively affect the quality of life of users and extend their ability to live productive lives in society. This project will reduce the overall burden of health care for adults with communicative disorders and the reduced capacity to communicate. The commercial impact of this project will be to reduce the overall cost of the provision of healthcare services for adults with communication disorders. It is expected that users will exert a lessened burden on the overall healthcare system and be able to live independently for longer. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will address the problem of adults’ inability to effectively communicate using spoken language as a consequence of age, disorder, or disease. The opportunity is to build a device to detect and report on communicative disorders in adults who are experiencing a reduction in the ability to speak and be understood. The objectives of this project are to develop the necessary hardware and software for a device to detect pathological speech produced by adults with communicative disorders in their natural environment. It is anticipated that this project will result in a tangible commercial device and associated software for adults with speech disorders. 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.