SBIR-STTR Award

Monitoring and Stabilizing Behavioral Rhythms to Improve Mental Health
Award last edited on: 2/19/2024

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NIH : NIMH
Total Award Amount
$5,300,355
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
242
Principal Investigator
Ellen Frank

Company Information

Health Rhythms Inc (AKA: HealthRhythms Inc)

One Broadway 14th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142
   (412) 246-5550
   info@healthrhythms.com
   www.healthrhythms.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 07
County: Middlesex

Phase I

Contract Number: 1R44MH113520-01
Start Date: 8/15/2017    Completed: 7/31/2019
Phase I year
2017
Phase I Amount
$964,251
HealthRhythms, Inc. Substantial evidence supports the idea that disruptions in the regularity of behavioral routines (or "˜social rhythms') can lead to the onset of psychiatric symptoms and full blown episodes via their impact on endogenous circadian rhythms and, conversely that stable social routines protect against new mood episodes. Based on our conviction that monitoring, evaluating, and increasing the regularity of behavioral rhythms has broad applicability for improving mental health, we established HealthRhythms, Inc. (www.healthrhythms.com) with the goal of using mobile technology to add the layer of mental health care to all of healthcare. Our product model capitalizes on the ubiquity and intimacy of smartphones and their capacity to sense parameters of behavior that represent key indicators of mental health on a 24/7 basis captured in the user's natural environment, opposed to the sporadic, in-clinic measurement that has characterized mental healthcare to date. The product we envision will ultimately have three pillars: Rhythm Sensing, Rhythm Trending, and Rhythm Stabilization. The first two of these pillars have been developed and thousands of licenses for our product have already been sold. Building on our accomplishments to date, this SBIR Phase II Direct proposal extends our work in three ways: 1) further validating our existing technology, 2) developing the next stage of our technology and 3) expanding and improving our prediction models and demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of our technology. The Specific Aims are: Aim 1: Enhance our Rhythm Trending capabilities through intensive examination and analysis of data from the 3,000+ patients with whom our product has already been deployed. Aim 2: Develop the envisioned Rhythm Stabilization pillar of our technology. Aim 3: Expand the nature of the data included in our prediction models and demonstrate their utility.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Project Narrative HealthRhythms, Inc. is on a mission to become the world leader in tracking clinically meaningful behavioral health rhythms in order to provide automated intervention advice to patients around the globe. The work we propose in this Direct Level II SBIR application, will enable HealthRhythms to be certain that 1) we are using all the power of the smartphone to get the measurement of behavioral health exactly right and 2) we can use those measurements to help individuals with depression or anxiety make changes in their behavior that are right for them and, thereby, reduce their symptoms and keep those symptoms from coming back.

Project Terms:
Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Dorsum; Back; Behavior; diurnal variation; daily biorhythm; circadian process; circadian; Twenty-Four Hour Rhythm; Nyctohemeral Rhythm; Diurnal Rhythm; Circadian Rhythms; Clinical Trials; Communication; cost effectiveness; data interpretation; Data Analysis; Data Analyses; data representation; Data Reporting; Data Sources; depression; Mental Depression; Environment; Goals; Grant; Health Care Systems; Healthcare Systems; treatment provider; medical personnel; healthcare personnel; health provider; health care worker; health care personnel; Healthcare worker; Healthcare Providers; Health Care Providers; Health Personnel; Level of Health; Health Status; Inpatients; Lead; heavy metal lead; heavy metal Pb; Pb element; Length of Stay; hospital stay; hospital length of stay; hospital days; Number of Days in Hospital; Mental Health; Psychological Health; Mental Hygiene; Mission; Modernization; Moods; Outpatients; Out-patients; Patients; Periodicity; Rhythmicity; Cyclicity; Phonation; Relapse; Research; Schizophrenia; schizophrenic; dementia praecox; Schizophrenic Disorders; Sleep; Suggestion; Technology; Telephone; Phone; Testing; Time; Work; Measures; Cost Savings; health care; Healthcare; Caring; base; sensor; improved; Clinical; Phase; mental; Psyche structure; Individual; Licensing; Measurement; Nature; Machine Learning; support vector machine; statistical learning; kernel methods; programs; Frequencies; Stream; Clinic; Mood Disorders; Affective Disorders; Benchmarking; Best Practice Analysis; experience; behavior measurement; behavioral measurement; behavioral measure; novel; intimate behavior; intimacy; Patient Self-Report; Self-Report; social; Modeling; behavioral health; Intervention; interventional strategy; Intervention Strategies; Cellular Phone; smartphone; smart phone; iPhone; Cellular Telephone; Cell Phone; Pharmacologic Substance; Pharmacological Substance; Pharmaceuticals; Pharmaceutical Agent; Health system; Symptoms; Data; Small Business Innovation Research; SBIR; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Monitor; trend; Preparation; developmental; Development; Electronic Health Record; Behavioral; Output; convict; Population; clinically relevant; clinical relevance; prototype; patient population; mHealth; mobile health; m-Health; clinical predictors; learning strategy; learning method; learning activity; social media; mobile computing; mobile technology; mobile platform; psychiatric symptom

Phase II

Contract Number: 5R44MH113520-02
Start Date: 8/15/2017    Completed: 4/30/2020
Phase II year
2018
(last award dollars: 2023)
Phase II Amount
$4,336,104

HealthRhythms, Inc. Substantial evidence supports the idea that disruptions in the regularity of behavioral routines (or "˜social rhythms') can lead to the onset of psychiatric symptoms and full blown episodes via their impact on endogenous circadian rhythms and, conversely that stable social routines protect against new mood episodes. Based on our conviction that monitoring, evaluating, and increasing the regularity of behavioral rhythms has broad applicability for improving mental health, we established HealthRhythms, Inc. (www.healthrhythms.com) with the goal of using mobile technology to add the layer of mental health care to all of healthcare. Our product model capitalizes on the ubiquity and intimacy of smartphones and their capacity to sense parameters of behavior that represent key indicators of mental health on a 24/7 basis captured in the user's natural environment, opposed to the sporadic, in-clinic measurement that has characterized mental healthcare to date. The product we envision will ultimately have three pillars: Rhythm Sensing, Rhythm Trending, and Rhythm Stabilization. The first two of these pillars have been developed and thousands of licenses for our product have already been sold. Building on our accomplishments to date, this SBIR Phase II Direct proposal extends our work in three ways: 1) further validating our existing technology, 2) developing the next stage of our technology and 3) expanding and improving our prediction models and demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of our technology. The Specific Aims are: Aim 1: Enhance our Rhythm Trending capabilities through intensive examination and analysis of data from the 3,000+ patients with whom our product has already been deployed. Aim 2: Develop the envisioned Rhythm Stabilization pillar of our technology. Aim 3: Expand the nature of the data included in our prediction models and demonstrate their utility.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Project Narrative HealthRhythms, Inc. is on a mission to become the world leader in tracking clinically meaningful behavioral health rhythms in order to provide automated intervention advice to patients around the globe. The work we propose in this Direct Level II SBIR application, will enable HealthRhythms to be certain that 1) we are using all the power of the smartphone to get the measurement of behavioral health exactly right and 2) we can use those measurements to help individuals with depression or anxiety make changes in their behavior that are right for them and, thereby, reduce their symptoms and keep those symptoms from coming back.

Project Terms:
Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Back; Dorsum; Behavior; Circadian Rhythms; diurnal variation; daily biorhythm; circadian process; circadian; Twenty-Four Hour Rhythm; Nyctohemeral Rhythm; Diurnal Rhythm; Clinical Trials; Communication; cost effectiveness; Data Analyses; data interpretation; Data Analysis; Data Reporting; data representation; Data Sources; Mental Depression; depression; Environment; Goals; Grant; Healthcare Systems; Health Care Systems; Health Personnel; treatment provider; medical personnel; healthcare personnel; health workforce; health provider; health care worker; health care personnel; Healthcare worker; Healthcare Providers; Health Care Providers; Health Status; Level of Health; Inpatients; Lead; heavy metal lead; heavy metal Pb; Pb element; Length of Stay; hospital stay; hospital length of stay; hospital days; Number of Days in Hospital; Mental Health; Psychological Health; Mental Hygiene; Mission; Modernization; Moods; Outpatients; Out-patients; Patients; Periodicity; Rhythmicity; Cyclicity; Relapse; Research; Schizophrenia; schizophrenic; dementia praecox; Schizophrenic Disorders; Sleep; Suggestion; Technology; Telephone; Phone; Testing; Time; Work; Measures; Cost Savings; Healthcare; health care; Caring; base; sensor; improved; Clinical; Phase; mental; Psyche structure; Individual; Licensing; Measurement; Nature; Machine Learning; support vector machine; statistical learning; kernel methods; programs; Frequencies; Stream; Clinic; Mood Disorders; Affective Disorders; Benchmarking; Best Practice Analysis; experience; behavior measurement; behavioral measurement; behavioral measure; novel; intimate behavior; intimacy; Patient Self-Report; Self-Report; social; Modeling; behavioral health; Intervention; interventional strategy; Intervention Strategies; Cellular Phone; smartphone; smart phone; iPhone; Cellular Telephone; Cell Phone; Pharmacologic Substance; Pharmacological Substance; Pharmaceuticals; Pharmaceutical Agent; Health system; Symptoms; Data; Small Business Innovation Research; SBIR; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Monitor; trend; Preparation; developmental; Development; Electronic Health Record; Behavioral; Output; risk prediction model; prognostic model; prediction model; computer based prediction; predictive modeling; convict; Population; clinical relevance; clinically relevant; prototype; patient population; mobile health; m-Health; mHealth; clinical predictors; learning method; learning activity; learning strategy; social media; mobile technology; mobile platform; mobile computing; psychiatric symptom