SBIR and STTR Program for Assistive Technology Device Development: Evaluation of Impact Using an ICF-Based Classification

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the impact of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) grant programs of 5 federal agencies National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Education (USDE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Department of Transportation (DOT) on the development of assistive technology (AT) devices using an International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-based framework SBIR and STTR awards were reviewed for the period 1996 through 2005. An ICF-based classification system, inclusion-exclusion criteria and assignment heuristics was developed. Awards were classified in reference to ICF components: Body Structures and Functions, Activity, Participation (separated in this system from Activity) and Contextual Factors, and further classified within each component. More than 24,000 SBIR and STTR, Phase I and Phase II grants were reviewed. Findings include the distribution of SBIR and STTR grants for assistive technology device (ATD) development, by component and category (of the ICF-based classification system); awards and funding by agency and year; cross-agency and temporal funding patterns; and concordance of funding patterns to agency missions. The authors concluded that the NIH and the USDE are the key SBIR funders for ATD development. The ICF-based classification scheme successfully differentiated agency award portfolios at both the component and category levels. The NIH is the key STTR funder for ATD development however the STTR program is relatively underutilized by ATD manufacturers. The USDE had the smallest SBIR program, yet was second in importance as an SBIR funder only to the NIH. The USDE mission is focused on addressing the needs of people with disabilities. No other agency mission had an analogous focus.