Wearable sensors today can continuously track signals such as heart rate or glucose, but the molecular changes that precede or accompany disease, including hormones, cytokines, and therapeutic drug levels, remain accessible only through episodic laboratory testing. 

PULSE aims to change that.

Novelna and its consortium partners will develop a wearable biosensing platform that measures low-concentration molecular markers continuously in interstitial fluid beneath the skin. The system combines a microneedle patch with two complementary biosensing chiplets. 

At the center of PULSE is a modular chiplet ecosystem built on a common hardware architecture in which the biological recognition layer is the primary analyte-specific component. Adapting the platform to a new biomarker therefore means changing the sensing chemistry rather than redesigning the electronics, packaging, or encapsulation. This reflects a central goal of the Delphi program: interoperable, reusable components that can be reconfigured across biosensing applications rather than rebuilt for each biomarker. 

For Novelna, PULSE extends the company’s platform from identifying disease-associated molecular signatures at a single point in time to measuring how those signals change continuously. Novelna’s proteomics and biomarker discovery work provides the basis for selecting the clinically meaningful targets PULSE will measure. 

“For most of the molecules that drive disease, measurement still means a blood draw and a wait for the laboratory. PULSE is designed to put that measurement on the body and keep it running, beginning with inflammatory markers that matter across a wide range of diseases. Continuous data of this kind has the potential to transform how we understand human biology and how we detect and manage disease,” said Ashkan Afshin, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD, Founder and CEO of Novelna, Inc., and Principal Investigator of PULSE. 

“Delphi’s emphasis on modular, interoperable chiplets is how we designed PULSE from the start: build the hardware once, then retarget it to new markers by changing the chemistry. We are grateful to ARPA-H for backing that approach and to the consortium partners who make it possible.” 

If successful, the PULSE architecture could provide a foundation for wearable molecular monitoring across multiple disease areas. Continuous molecular data could help researchers and clinicians recognize biological change earlier, monitor recovery and treatment response, and develop more personalized approaches to disease management. 

Read the ARPA-H Delphi announcement here.

This research is funded, in part, by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The views and conclusions contained herein are those of Novelna and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.