The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) within NIH posted a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on July 11, 2013, seeking technologies to measure blood pressure in low-resource settings in the U.S and India. NIBIB plans to commit $2 million in FY 2014 to fund up to three applications.
A companion announcement is going to be made by the Indian government to support similar research by Indian investigators. Applicants are encouraged but not required to identify Indian partners to work with on their projects at the time of submission of their applications. All investigators funded by the U.S or India will share results at a yearly meeting and hopefully collaborations will be formed among investigators from both countries.
The new technologies would not require cuffs or expensive equipment and would be used by untrained individuals in their own homes or regional care settings. The blood pressure sensing technologies developed for low resource areas must be durable, require little or no maintenance, and the readings must be able to be integrated with communication devices.
Specific areas of research include but are not limited to high throughput blood pressure systems that can measure the blood pressure for a large number of individuals and minimal interaction low-cost blood pressure measurement systems that can measure blood pressure in a home environment.
Eligible organizations include higher education institutions, nonprofits, for-profits, small businesses, governments, and regional organizations.
Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-EB-13-001.html for more information.