Project Description:
The current standard of care for diagnosing Otitis Media requires the use of expensive Otoacoustic Emission (OAE) equipment and frequent visits to healthcare providers. The costs of frequent visits puts a strain on healthcare systems, while the expensive equipment is inaccessible in low and middle income countries, leading to poor health outcomes. Our team’s solution is to develop a low-cost telehealth OAE detection device that can function in low resource areas and at-home settings. Our project is organized as follows: begin by building off of previously developed telemedicine earpods from an open source University of Washington design capable of OAE detection, test and update previous designs based on our pediatric specific design specifications, create a user-friendly telehealth platform for data collection and referral, and finally design a potential clinical framework in collaboration with Children’s National Hospital. Significant milestones achieved during prototyping include the finalization of a 3D printed physical prototype that can house necessary design hardware, development of a mobile application for comprehensive data storage and retrieval, and a framework for future testing at Children’s National Hospital. This device has the potential for numerous impactful outcomes, including more accessible detection of Otitis Media in pediatric patients, enhanced convenience for caregivers with a lower burden on healthcare settings, and promotion of early detection leading to enhanced antibiotic stewardship while mitigating the long term the effects unaddressed ear conditions.
