Pain assessment in medicine often relies on outdated visual rating scales that use smiling or crying faces. This approach has left both patients and physicians frustrated. Researchers at Children’s National Hospital are seeking to change this with a new device designed to measure pain more accurately. They have received an $8 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as part of its Sprint for Women’s Health initiative.
This initiative targets critical challenges in women’s health, promoting innovative solutions for conditions that disproportionately affect women. Collaborating with researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Medstar Research Institute, Children’s National is advancing the AlgometRx Nociometer, a device that aims to improve pain understanding and treatment.
Dr. Julia Finkel, a pediatric anesthesiologist and director of Pain Medicine Research at the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, emphasizes the need to recognize gender differences in pain and enhance treatment for patients of all ages. The $8 million funding will be distributed over two years as part of the launchpad track for later-stage health solutions.
The portable Nociometer employs noninvasive technology to analyze pupil dilation and nerve responses to a non-painful stimulus. Within a minute, it can collect data to create a patient profile that quantifies how the nervous system responds to pain. This information helps characterize the type and intensity of pain and evaluate the effectiveness of pain relief medications.
Dr. Finkel has spent nine years developing the Nociometer through her spin-out company, AlgometRx, which receives support from Children’s National Innovation Ventures. She believes this innovative technology can be applied across various patient populations, including the elderly and nonverbal individuals, and will be crucial in understanding women’s pain experiences. “Research has shown that pain in women and girls is often underestimated and undertreated,” she stated. “This technology could significantly enhance pain treatment in nearly any medical setting.”
ARPA-H initiated the Sprint for Women’s Health in February, with First Lady Jill Biden announcing the funding as part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. The program received an overwhelming number of submissions addressing six key topics in women’s health.
Children’s National will collaborate with an ARPA-H program manager and the Investor Catalyst Hub over the next two years. They will receive milestone-based payments aligned with their research activities and objectives.
The ARPA-H launchpad program aims to accelerate transformative health solutions by providing funding and market support. As a launchpad performer, Dr. Finkel will also work with an entrepreneur-in-residence and participate in the Launchpad Accelerator, which includes a tailored curriculum, virtual events, and in-person workshops to aid in transitioning research to commercialization.
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