# Clinical effectiveness of a wearable hydration device

> **NIH NIH R42** · TRITONX INC. · 2022 · $259,939

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Dehydration among older adults costs billions of US healthcare dollars every year. While not always the primary focus of
care, dehydration is a pervasive comorbidity in hospitalizations and deaths of older adult patients. Dehydration is of vital
importance, especially among vulnerable older adults because: (1) Older persons can have additional difficulty monitoring
their own fluid intake (2) existing technologies do not present a consistent, actionable mechanism for measuring
dehydration in home settings and other areas where older adults live independently. Hydration measurement techniques
available to care providers today are either inconsistent, laborious, inaccurate, or not feasible.
Dehydration is an ambulatory-care-sensitive condition and is preventable and reversible. Health care outcomes can be
improved and hospital expenditures reduced or prevented through home monitoring of hydation, changes in health
behaviors of older adults and the rendering prompt, appropriate care.
TritonX has created a wearable sensor based on bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) techniques to measure personal
hydration in real time with sufficient accuracy to assess significant fluid changes in the human body. Our value
proposition is to track the changes in the body fluids in real time and to alert the caretakers/patient if the hydration level of
the patient falls below a certain threshold.
In this STTR Fast Track Application we propose to, in Phase 1, determine the ideal user experience, device settings and
health care communication needs when conducting continuous monitoring of fluid levels among older adults in their
homes. In Phase 2, we will conduct a randomized controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of continuous home
monitoring of fluid levels in a cohort of vulnerable older adult patients seen in the emergency care setting.
The successful outcome of this study will include evidence for the effectiveness of the home, wearable hydration
monitoring device, data necessary for the FDA 510(k) and related regulatory processes and substantial enhancements to
both our knowledge of older adult needs and device functionality.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10603046
- **Project number:** 1R42AG080886-01
- **Recipient organization:** TRITONX INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Eamon Johnson
- **Activity code:** R42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $259,939
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-30 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10603046

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10603046, Clinical effectiveness of a wearable hydration device (1R42AG080886-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10603046. Licensed CC0.

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