A 23-year-old has founded a company that has created an incontinence sensor, which is being tested at Carlton Senior Living.

Sensassure employees worked at the San Leandro facility to learn about managing incontinence in senior care, and used the feedback to create a design of a practical sensor.

The sensor allows staff to know when a resident needs a fresh brief, eliminating time and increasing privacy.

In Sensassure’s pilot study, the researchers found the sensor is able to reduce the time a resident spends in wet undergarments by 73% and decrease the amount of unnecessary sleep interruptions by 81%.

“For this product to transform the lives of the people we are trying to impact, the care team has to love it and want to use it,” founder Sameer Dhar  said. “I think the integrated approach we are taking, working with caregivers as partners, is helping us design a product that will be more successful once it goes to market.”

The current design attaches to a hook and loop fastener and rests on the outside of undergarments, detecting wetness through clothing, the company noted.

Sensassure has been accepted into the Highway1 program, a San Francisco-based hardware accelerator. The company hopes to make the sensor available for commercial use by the second quarter of 2017.