# Improving Rural Access to Pediatric Healthcare with Accurate Telehealth Diagnosis of Acute Otitis Media using Smartphone Acoustic Reflectometry

> **NIH NIH R44** · WAVELY DIAGNOSTICS, INC. · 2022 · $932,835

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Acute otitis media (AOM) is a leading cause of pediatric visits each year, affecting 85% of children under the
age of 3. There are 18 million annual doctor visits due to suspected AOM, which today are challenging to
conduct over telehealth because diagnosis traditionally requires an in-person physical exam. This is
particularly problematic for rural children who can’t easily access healthcare services leading to possible
complications from under-treatment (hearing loss, speech delay, eardrum perforation). Current telehealth
services lack technology to successfully conduct a middle ear fluid exam, the key finding of the physical exam
for an AOM. Wavely Diagnostics is developing a smartphone-based tool for lay users that accurately detects
middle ear fluid during a telehealth visit. Our technology uses acoustic reflectometry—an impedance-based
technique that reflects sound chirps off the eardrum—paired with machine learning algorithms to determine
middle ear fluid status. In this Direct to Phase II SBIR project, the specific aims are: 1) develop an in-field
calibration process to drive compatibility across smartphones, 2) clinically demonstrate accuracy of middle ear
fluid detection with device as compared to physician assessment, 3) develop a HIPAA-compliant Wavely
Application Programing Interface (API) to integrate with a telemedicine platform, and 4) validate the clinical
utility of Wavely Middle Ear Fluid Scanner for diagnosing AOM in a telemedicine setting. The expected
outcome of this proposal is a Middle Ear Fluid Scanner for AOM detection that will be ready for widescale use
by telehealth services supporting rural populations. Given the ubiquity of smartphones across all communities,
recent rise in telehealth usage particularly in rural communities where significant investment is being made in
broadband services, and the critical need for accurate remote diagnostics, our proposed system has the
potential to significantly improve healthcare access for the 13.4 million children in rural communities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10600672
- **Project number:** 1R44MD018225-01
- **Recipient organization:** WAVELY DIAGNOSTICS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Judson Heugel
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $932,835
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-25 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10600672

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10600672, Improving Rural Access to Pediatric Healthcare with Accurate Telehealth Diagnosis of Acute Otitis Media using Smartphone Acoustic Reflectometry (1R44MD018225-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10600672. Licensed CC0.

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