AUSTIN, TX – September 26, 2017 – Protequus LLC, a biomedical engineering and data science firm, announces regulatory clearance from the United States (US) Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Industry Canada (IC), and PTCRB/CTIA-The Wireless Association for the commercialization of NIGHTWATCH, the world’s first smart halter^TM, in the US in and Canada. “We are grateful to the governing bodies and our telecommunication partners for their guidance these past 18 months,” says Jeffrey R. Schab, Founder & CEO of Protequus. “This important milestone ushers in a new chapter for Protequus as we transition from an R&D organization to a commercial market leader.”

NIGHTWATCH is an equine distress & wellness monitor that acts as an early warning system for colic and other forms of distress in horses, such as being cast, foaling, etc. This revolutionary device contains cutting-edge sensor technology and multiple radio transmitters (ie, ultra-wide band radar, 3G/cellular, Wi-Fi/WLAN) for acquiring biometric & behavior data on horses and alerting caretakers to the first signs of potential danger/distress so they can intervene early. All technology is non-invasively embedded within the crown of a specially-designed breakaway halter or safety collar, making NIGHTWATCH safe and comfortable for long-term and overnight use.

Nearly 40% of The American Horse Council’s estimated 9.2 million horses in the US are used for performance (ie, racing and showing), which means more than 3.5 million horses are at increased risk for developing colic and other forms of distress. Unfortunately, signs of distress can be elusive and often occur overnight while horses are unsupervised, which results in delayed intervention and inferior survival and quality of life outcomes. “We believe the advent of NIGHTWATCH_ not only has the potential to save the lives of many horses, but also revolutionize how equine insurance companies assess risk, how veterinarians practice telemedicine, and how researchers design studies,” says Jeffrey.

NIGHTWATCH received patent protection earlier this year from the US Patent and Trademark Office (US Pat # 9,629,340) and is under review in other countries as part of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)