To overcome the limitations of current dietary assessment methodology, scientists at the USDA, ARS, Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC) developed a computerized food-scale system named NESSy, Nutrition Evaluation Scale System (US Patent #5,233,520). WHNRC and Princeton Multimedia Technologies (PMT), through the USDA Technology Transfer program, have a cooperative research and development agreement to commercialize products based upon NESSy. The first product, ProNESSy, allows dietetic professionals the capability to track weighed food intakes for research subjects participating in clinical, metabolic, and/or free-living research studies. ProNESSY is a software module that works with ProNutra, PMT's dietary analysis system that supports research dietitians. While ProNutra facilitates diet design, ProNESSy facilitates accurate dietary kitchen food processing as well as accurate and timely reporting of the food/nutrient intake from such studies. Dietitians use ProNutra to plan, manage, and analyze food and nutrient intake while dietary kitchen staff use ProNESSy to accurately weigh and track foods prepared for research studies. Together, the two software modules provide health care researchers the unique ability to design precise nutrient-intake studies and to efficiently measure, manage, and monitor the preparation and consumption of the provided foods and nutrients. ProNESSy runs on a PC with a touch-sensitive screen connected to an electronic scale. ProNESSy converts study diets into detailed electronic step-by-step instructions to direct the diet preparation. The "Weigh-In" mode, used during diet assembly, ensures that each subject is served the correct weight of specified foods. The "Weigh-Out" mode is used to determine actual intake by weighing any uneaten food(s). Extensive error detection and prevention techniques are used to prevent errors. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
