New Technology to Screen for Mild Hearing Loss in Children (SBIR R43/R44) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The grant opportunity titled "New Technology to Screen for Mild Hearing Loss in Children (SBIR R43/R44)" invites proposals from small business concerns to create, improve, or adapt screening tools that can more reliably pick up mild hearing loss in infants and young children. The central problem the announcement targets is that many current screening approaches do a good job identifying moderate to profound hearing loss, but can miss milder losses, especially those under 40 dB Hearing Level (40 dB HL), in one ear or both. The goal is to push development of technology that raises sensitivity for these mild cases without also driving up the rate of false positives, meaning children who fail the screening even though they do not actually have hearing loss. In practical terms, the government is looking for innovations that catch more true cases of mild hearing loss while keeping screening programs efficient and trustworthy for families and healthcare systems.

The public health motivation behind the FOA is tied to early identification and timely intervention. The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program, housed within the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), emphasize that earlier detection can meaningfully improve a child s access to language input, communication development, and support services. Mild hearing loss can be harder to notice clinically and can still affect speech and language outcomes, classroom performance, and social development, so the agencies are encouraging technology that makes detection more consistent and dependable at very young ages.

This FOA uses the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) mechanisms, specifically R43 and R44, which cover Phase I, Phase II, and Fast Track submissions. Phase I generally supports early feasibility and proof of concept work, Phase II supports more advanced development and testing, and the Fast Track route is designed to move more seamlessly from Phase I into Phase II with an integrated application. The scientific scope is mirrored by a parallel announcement (PA 06 547) that uses the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) mechanisms (R41/R42), but an important administrative detail is that CDC does not accept STTR applications. Because of that, CDC s participation is limited to this SBIR announcement (PA 06 546), even though the overall topic and goals align across the SBIR and STTR versions.

In terms of what applicants are expected to propose, the emphasis is on screening technologies suited for infants and young children, and specifically on improving performance for mild losses below 40 dB HL. The announcement is not limited to one particular device type or method in the text provided, but it is clearly aimed at practical screening solutions that can be deployed in real world early childhood settings. The key performance requirement is a better balance of sensitivity and specificity for mild hearing loss: detect more true mild cases while avoiding unnecessary referrals and follow up testing caused by false positives. This is important because screening programs operate at scale, and even small increases in false positive rates can translate into a large number of families experiencing stress, extra appointments, and added healthcare costs.

Administratively, the opportunity is identified as PA 06 546 and categorized as discretionary grant funding in the health area. It lists CFDA numbers 93.173 (Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders) and 93.283 (CDC Investigations and Technical Assistance), reflecting the involvement of NIH and CDC interests. There is no cost sharing or matching requirement stated, which typically makes participation easier for small businesses because it does not require them to contribute a defined portion of project costs as a condition of the award.

Eligibility is centered on small businesses, with additional eligibility details referenced in the full announcement. Foreign institutions are explicitly not eligible to apply. The NIH policy notes that an applicant organization may submit multiple different applications, but NIH will not accept essentially the same project more than once from the same organization, including derivative submissions that are basically the same product with only non substantive modifications for different uses. Applicants also cannot submit identical or essentially identical applications under this FOA and another HHS funding opportunity announcement at the same time, including the SBIR or STTR Parent FOAs, which is meant to prevent duplicate review of the same proposal across multiple solicitations.

The posting history included in the record shows it was posted September 8, 2006, with multiple receipt dates and a closing window that ultimately listed September 7, 2009 as the current closing date, and an archive date of October 7, 2009. The announcement indicates applicants should consult the full FOA for the specific receipt dates and submission details, since these SBIR announcements often operate with recurring deadlines during the active period rather than a single one time due date. For access or technical issues related to the online announcement, the listed point of contact is the NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster email.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted SBIR call for small businesses to bring forward innovations that can make pediatric hearing screening more sensitive to mild hearing loss while staying accurate enough to avoid overwhelming families and healthcare systems with false alarms. It sits at the intersection of technology development and early childhood public health, with the shared aim of helping children with even subtle hearing deficits get identified and supported as early as possible.

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