Isle tech firm lands Army pact
Star-Bulletin staff
Kai Sensors Inc., a Honolulu-based developer of wireless heart rate and respiration sensing technology, has landed the first phase of a U.S. Army contract that could be worth up to $850,000 for development of sensor and communication technology on a single chip.
The company develops products based on its Heart Sensing Radar technology, named LifeReader, which has the ability to accurately detect and monitor heart and respiration activity of multiple subjects wirelessly, remotely, safely, and with no contact to the subjects.
Kai Sensors' technology is capable of doing so through walls and with the accuracy needed to meet many health-care applications. It works by using sophisticated MIMO Doppler radar technology in combination with advanced algorithms and data analysis.
In the automotive industry, Kai Sensors' products, once designed into a car, could improve driver and passenger safety by detecting a baby mistakenly left in a car, by delivering medical information on passengers involved in an accident, and by alerting a driver when he is falling asleep or in medical danger.
Kai Sensors' homeland security products will be designed to enhance national security by allowing for improved screening techniques, through identifying individuals who should be screened further.
The company's remote patient monitoring devices will someday help physicians diagnose and monitor numerous health-care conditions much less intrusively and more accurately by allowing physicians to collect more data from a patient over a longer period of time.
"We are very excited about partnering with the Army in our chip development efforts," said Andrea Yuen, Kai Sensors' chief executive officer. "Being awarded this contract by the Army validates that we are at the cutting edge of our field and will facilitate our efforts to develop LifeReader chips that will someday be integrated into products for the automotive, homeland security, and medical markets."
LifeReader was developed at University of Hawaii's electrical engineering department over the past four years by a group of industry-leading researchers. Kai Sensors' chairman of the board is Dustin Shindo, founder, chairman and CEO of Hoku Scientific Inc.
Dr. Barry Perlman, associate director for technology of the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Center, said Kai Sensors is well positioned to bring this technology to market for both military and commercial applications.
"Development of a highly integrated multifunction system on a chip to support radar and communications will significantly impact a number of important Army search, track, identification, and sensor communications applications where small size, weight and power or SWAP are critical requirements," Perlman said.