Senphonix Secures NSF Grant to Advance SleeveSense Vital Signs Monitoring Device

Senphonix, Inc., a medical-technology startup based in Delaware with offices in Arizona and Minnesota, announced it has received a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) through America's Seed Fund. Partnering with the University of Arizona, the award will support engineering work to strengthen the wireless and radio-frequency systems of its patent-pending device, SleeveSense, and advance it from prototype toward large-scale manufacturing.

SleeveSense is designed as a comfortable wearable sleeve that continuously streams patient vital signs over days, weeks, or months, both during hospital stays and after discharge. The device aims to eliminate manual measurement processes—which currently consume up to or over 20 percent of nurses' shift time—while surfacing signs of patient deterioration earlier. In national surveys conducted for Senphonix by MarketWise Advising, LLC, 98 percent of practicing nurses and 94 percent of CFOs surveyed expressed support for adopting the platform.

The federal award builds on earlier design funding provided by the State of Arizona through the Arizona Commerce Authority and the WearTech Applied Research Center. Senphonix expects to begin clinical testing in late 2026 or early 2027, with plans to pursue U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance in early to mid-2027 ahead of its targeted market launch.