# HabiTrak: low-cost, wireless home cage health and activity monitoring.

> **NIH NIH R44** · VULINTUS, LLC · 2021 · $780,567

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Currently available commercial systems for automated home cage health and behavioral
monitoring of small animal research models are typically expensive and do not work universally
with researchers’ existing vivarium cage systems. Under this Phase II SBIR project, Vulintus,
Inc. will continue to develop and validate “HabiTrak”, a miniature low-cost, wireless device for
continuously monitoring small animal health and activity inside any standard commercial home
cage. The HabiTrak design leverages recent advances in sensor miniaturization to combine a
suite of thermographic and environmental sensors in a small, robust package designed to be
placed wirelessly inside the home cage. Vulintus’ Phase II activities include finalization of the
hardware design and development of an interactive online ecosystem for real-time access to
HabiTrak data. Concurrently, HabiTrak will undergo beta testing in three diverse biomedical
research studies at Drexel University, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of
Texas at Dallas. Beta testing will help to establish the accuracy and utility of HabiTrak
measurements, and guide the development of protocols for how HabiTrak can be most easily
deployed into existing research institutions. At the conclusion of this Phase II, a fully developed
HabiTrak system will provide researchers and vivariums with an unprecedented window into
their animals’ health and activity, particularly for models requiring intensive supervision, and will
help to identify and control for nuisance factors that may obscure significant discoveries.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10201441
- **Project number:** 5R44MH119734-03
- **Recipient organization:** VULINTUS, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrew Michael Sloan
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $780,567
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-19 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10201441

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10201441, HabiTrak: low-cost, wireless home cage health and activity monitoring. (5R44MH119734-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10201441. Licensed CC0.

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