ARPA-H: AI telehealth instruments to assess children's well-being (SBIR) — a ~$3.5M federal contract (USAspending)
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H, run within NIH) ordered about $3.5 million ($3,480,960) for R&D (SBIR Phase II) on novel telehealth instruments that use AI to assess pediatric well-being. The recipient is Belletorus Corporation; the project is "DACCS AI." Early research applying AI to remote assessment of children.
Contract key facts
- RecipientBELLETORUS CORPORATION
- Contract value$3,480,960 (≈$3.5M)
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Health and Human Services
- Awarding sub-agencyNational Institutes of Health
- Award typeDEFINITIVE CONTRACT
- Period of performance2023-09-18 〜 2025-09-17
- Contract ID (PIID)75N91023C00045
Contract scope (original)
ARPA-H O1 SBIR PHASE II - NOVEL TELEHEALTH INSTRUMENTS FOR ASSESSING PEDIATRIC WELL-BEING. PROJECT TITLE: DIGITAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN'S CONDITIONS USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ("DACCS AI")
Key points
- ARPA-H (run within NIH) funded AI-based remote assessment of children's well-being
- SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase II — the demonstration/development stage
- Project "DACCS AI"; value ~$3.5M; performance Sep 2023–Sep 2025; recipient Belletorus
- ARPA-H is a new, DARPA-style agency for high-risk, high-impact health research
- Pediatric care is an area where remote/digital assessment is especially meaningful
ARPA-H is a new agency created — modeled on DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) — to pursue high-risk, high-impact health research. SBIR is a program that supports small-business innovation in stages, with Phase II being the demonstration/development stage.
Why it matters: this research applies AI to medical instruments that assess children remotely. Pediatric care has particular challenges — young patients may not articulate symptoms well — making digital assessment tools especially meaningful. It is notable that a brand-new health-research agency is funding such an ambitious theme through a small business. As research, the instrument's specifications and effectiveness are not in the source, so we do not speculate here.
Why it matters
A sign that the new ARPA-H is funding AI-plus-telehealth in the hard domain of pediatric care. Useful for tracking the frontier of government medical-AI research and small-business technology development.
FAQ
What is ARPA-H?
What is SBIR Phase II?
Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：75N91023C00045