By the FL Innovation News editorial team · Health
For Vik Ramprakash, the idea behind Cell Guardian did not begin in a laboratory. It began at home. After his newborn son experienced respiratory complications, Ramprakash searched for a way to monitor his breathing throughout the night without attaching wires or wearable sensors. When he discovered no practical contactless solution existed, the engineer and entrepreneur set out to build one himself.
Today, that idea has evolved into Cell Guardian, an Orlando-based health technology company developing AI-powered contactless physiological monitoring that continuously measures heart rate, respiration, and movement without requiring patients to wear a device. By combining artificial intelligence, computer vision, and proprietary multi-sensor fusion technology, the platform is designed to improve monitoring across correctional facilities, hospitals, elder care communities, and other healthcare settings.
“We’ve spent years teaching computers how to see,” said Ramprakash. “Now we’re teaching them how to understand the human condition.”
From remote sensing to healthcare
Originally from India, Ramprakash came to the United States to earn a master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a specialization in remote sensing at The Ohio State University. After building a career in geospatial technology and later managing enterprise technology at Bank of America, he turned his focus to entrepreneurship, licensing patents from UF and developing a patented contactless monitoring platform.
While the company’s original vision centered on infant care, an unexpected opportunity led it into veterinary medicine, where the technology helped monitor animals recovering from surgery. The business was acquired by a strategic investor in 2023, but Ramprakash retained the human healthcare licensing rights, allowing him to return to the mission that inspired the technology from the beginning.
Proving the model in demanding environments
Today, Cell Guardian’s initial commercial focus is correctional facilities, where continuous monitoring can help identify medical emergencies while reducing false alarms. With more than 70 deployments, the company has demonstrated that contactless physiological monitoring can succeed in one of healthcare’s most demanding environments. Unlike traditional camera systems or wearable devices, the platform combines physiological sensing with visual intelligence, giving caregivers and staff a more complete understanding of a person’s condition.
Ramprakash sees far broader applications for the technology, including elder care, neonatal monitoring, hospitals, and medical devices. The company is also working with a medical equipment manufacturer to integrate its sensing technology into dental chairs, allowing patients’ vital signs to be captured automatically during procedures.
A new category: contactless physiological intelligence
Beyond healthcare, Ramprakash believes Cell Guardian is helping define a new category he calls contactless physiological intelligence, technology that enables AI to understand not only what people are doing, but how they are doing.
“Today’s AI can recognize objects and process information,” he said. “But it still doesn’t understand whether someone is in pain, under stress, or experiencing a medical emergency. That’s the gap we’re trying to close.”
By combining engineering, artificial intelligence, and medical innovation, Cell Guardian is positioning itself at the intersection of healthcare and human centered AI. From its headquarters in Orlando, the company is working to redefine patient monitoring while building technology that could shape the next generation of intelligent healthcare systems.
Medical disclaimer: This article is general information about health topics and is not medical advice. It is not a substitute for a conversation with your own clinician, who can advise on what is appropriate for your circumstances.
