Kai Sensors, a Honolulu-based developer of wireless heart rate and respiration sensing technology, has secured the first phase of a U.S. Army contract through a wholly owned subsidiary that could be worth up to $850,000 for the development of sensor and communication technology on a single chip.

Kai Sensors said it develops products based on its Heart Sensing Radar technology, LifeReader, which detects and monitors heart and respiration activity of multiple subjects wirelessly, remotely, safely, and with no contact to the subjects.

The firm’s technology is capable of detection through walls and with the accuracy needed to meet many healthcare applications. It works by using MIMO Doppler radar technology in combination with algorithms and data analysis, according to Kai Sensors.