SBIR-STTR Award

In this propose phase i sbir design effort, we will design a portable, multichannel, battery-operated device that will digitize, process, and store physiological data. It will operate in flight under high levels of g stress. The programmable device will be capable of acquiring data at rates sufficient to record eeg and ecg waveforms. Through the use of data compression techniques, it will allow data collection and storage throughout the duration of a mission using modest amounts of storage memory. Its modular design will permit use of more than one device at a time in situations where very large numbers of recording channels are required. At the conclusion of the phase i effort, we will provide design details in the form of drawings of the device, schematics of the electronics, and flowcharts of software programs. We will also provide results of tests and recommendations for the phase ii device design.

Acquisition, storage, and retrieval of physiological data in operational settings at either high data rates or for extended time periods is thwarted by current instrumentation. Proposed is a Phase II effort to implement a Phase I design that circumvents the existing technological problems. The design is for a light weight portable battery operated unit able to fit in the calf pocket of an aviator's flight suit. The proposed device will have twenty-four analog input channels and six digital input channels. It will have two analog output channels and six digital output channels. Sixteen of the twenty-four analog input channels will have programmable amplifiers and programmable filters. Sampling rate and digitizing word length will also be programmable using an innovative memory packaging technique with sixteen to sixty-four megabytes of random access memory accommodated in the 8.5"x5.5"x1.7" device. Innovative means of minimizing power consumption will permit the device to operate for up to twenty-four hours without a battery change; batteries can be changed, however, without interrupting the operation of the device. A sophisticated PC based user interface assists the user in four basic functions: device configuration selection, device testing (including monitoring all of the incoming signals), search for and retrieval of stored data, and custom programming of the device with user-authored software.