# A Multimodal Approach for Monitoring Prolonged Acute Pain in Neonates

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA · 2020 · $181,755

## Abstract

Most hospitalized infants experience painful procedures as a part of their care. Repeated or prolonged exposure
to pain during early life is associated with permanent changes in brain structure and function and may lead to
behavioral and developmental disabilities. Caregivers recognize the need to treat pain in infants but may be
reluctant to administer analgesics because of potential short- and long-term side effects. Assessing pain in this
vulnerable patient population is difficult as their responses are nonspecific and vary based on developmental
stage. This difficulty may lead to both over- and under-treatment of pain, placing infants at risk for permanent
neurologic injury. We propose to develop models and computer algorithms to automatically and continuously
assess pain in neonates based on behavioral and physiological pain indicators.
 To achieve this goal, the proposal has two aims: aim 1- Continuously and synchronously record
contextual, behavioral and physiological signals from neonates in the NICU while they are undergoing prolonged
acute pain; aim 2 - developing a multimodal system for assessing postoperative pain in neonates. The proposed
system would generate continuous and standardized pain scores comparable to those obtained by conventional
nurse-derived pain scores. It would improve care outcomes by enhancing the assessment of pain while
decreasing the burden of pain documentation. It can also eliminate issues of inter-rater reliability associated with
conventional neonatal pain assessment. The proposed data collection plan was designed based on our
preliminary results and statistical analysis. The proposed system will be evaluated using standard performance
metrics, such as accuracy, precision, recall, Cohen’s kappa coefficient, or their variations.
 The interdisciplinary team includes a neonatologist, Dr. Ho, who is a faculty of both USF College of
Medicine and College of Nursing. She practices and oversees the clinical research projects at the Tampa
General Hospital NICU (the teaching hospital for USF Health). She ensures the team’s access to the NICU
patient population for enrollment. She supervises the performance of the study including nursing pain
assessment, video recording, and data collection. The team also includes a professor in nursing who specializes
in neonatal opioids dependence and pain, an experienced research nurse, two computer science professors,
and one statistics professor. The proposed work aligns very well with the NINR’s mission “to promote and
improve the health of individuals, families, and communities.” The proposed neonatal pain assessment approach
will provide a tool for nurses to assess pain continuously and more accurately. Pain is one of the critical factors
affecting the brain development in neonates, especially in preterm neonates, with chronic illnesses. The
incidence of perterm neonates exposed to pain in high and pain assessment and management remain a primary
focus of neonatal nursing resea...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9979265
- **Project number:** 1R21NR018756-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Yu Sun
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $181,755
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-16 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9979265

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9979265, A Multimodal Approach for Monitoring Prolonged Acute Pain in Neonates (1R21NR018756-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9979265. Licensed CC0.

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