Cantimer, Inc. Awarded $996,000 Contract from U.S. Government to Develop Portable, Real-Time and Non-Invasive Hydration Measurement and Monitoring System for Use by Fi...( Funds to support product developmen...),Health

Funds to support product development and clinical evaluation activities

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Cantimer, Inc., a privately held company developing and commercializing a proprietary sensor technology platform with applications in life science, biodefense, environmental testing, point-of-care diagnostics and home health markets, today announced that it has been awarded a $996,000 contract by the U.S. Government's Technical Support Working Group (TSWG; http://www.tswg.gov) to develop a portable, real-time and non-invasive hydration measurement and monitoring device for use by firefighters and other first response personnel.

Dehydration is a major health concern in the first responder community. Mild dehydration can lead to compromised physical and cognitive performance. Moderate to severe dehydration creates a significantly increased risk for debilitating and potentially deadly heat illnesses. For example, firefighters perform physically demanding work in heavy protective clothing, which increases the production of sweat as the body works harder than normal to self-regulate its core temperature. Warm or hot ambient conditions, as well as exposure to radiant heat from fires, increase the challenge. Dehydration compromises sweat production, and the resulting rise in core temperature creates increased cardiovascular stress. Dehydration can also result in other untoward cardiovascular changes.

The United States Fire Administration (part of FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency) estimates that more than half of firefighter line-of-duty deaths result from cardiovascular events or heat illnesses. Thus ensuring adequate pre-response hydration and on-scene re-hydration is an increasing area of focus for occupational medicine experts focused on the health, safety and performance of firefighters. Non-quantitative or observational hydration assessment techniques may not consiste
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