The problem
The magnitude is hard to swallow
In the U.S. alone, hundreds of thousands of infants, more than a million children and over twelve million adults live with dysphagia: difficulty or dysfunction in swallowing. Most are screened by observation, if they are screened at all.
The stakes
If undetected, dysphagia can be life-threatening
- Aspiration pneumonia
- Lung disease
- Malnutrition and dehydration
- Developmental delays in children
- Hospital readmission
- Delayed detection of silent aspiration
A smartphone and AI system that transforms the detection and management of dysphagia.
Where Sipple works
One platform, every life stage
The same recording, the same model, from the first feeds in the NICU to residential care. No specialized equipment, no specialized training, no referral queue.
Infants · 0–15 months
Neonatal intensive care
Objective feeding-readiness and aspiration screening at the isolette, repeatable at every care transition.
ExplorePediatrics
Pediatric clinic
A first-line screen for the feeding and swallowing work-up, before anyone is sent for imaging.
ExploreCaregivers
Supervised home
Caregiver-captured recordings reviewed by the care team, so a change in swallowing safety is seen the day it happens.
ExploreAdults & seniors
Long-term care
Post-stroke, neurodegenerative and geriatric dysphagia monitored at mealtimes, without a transport to radiology.
ExplorePartners
Research & platform partners
Clinical trial sites, home-care networks and health platforms licensing dysphagia risk assessment.
Get in touchBreakthrough Device Designation
U.S. Food and Drug Administration · August 2025Pediatric validation presented to the field
NASPGHAN 2025 · PAS 2026 · New York Academy of SciencesValidated against VFSS at Boston Children's
Further trials at St. Mary'sTwo non-provisional patents filed
PCT underway · NYU innovation grant recipientHow it works
A smartphone, an AI model and a better answer
Sipple couldn't be simpler. No probe, no contrast, no scope. The phone the clinician already carries is the instrument.
Swallow assessment
Patient AM-04 · NICU · feed 6
The recording
The clinician places the smartphone near the patient and starts the Sipple app. It captures swallowing and the associated breath sounds in real time, during an ordinary feed or meal.
The analysis
Our AI model analyzes the sound waves and detects the subtle patterns that distinguish safe from unsafe swallows: the patterns that separate patients who aspirate from those who do not.
The answer
An aspiration-risk result and a clinician-grade report, in under a minute, shareable with the care team under HIPAA. Repeat it at the next feed and the trend builds itself.
Anyone. Anywhere. Anytime.
Clinical validation
A tried and tested breakthrough
In August 2025 the FDA awarded Sipple Breakthrough Device designation. Ahead of anticipated full FDA authorization for dysphagia detection and monitoring in infants aged 0 to 15 months, we are completing clinical trials at Boston Children's Hospital and St. Mary's Children's Hospital in New York.
Sipple rarely misses a problem.
When Sipple says "safe," it is very likely correct.
A flagged swallow is worth a closer look.
Fewer healthy infants sent for imaging.
Pediatric trial sites · infants 0–15 months
- Boston Children's HospitalValidation complete
- St. Mary's Children's Hospital, New YorkIn progress
Adult & caregiver app
- Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, ConnecticutCommencing
In their words
What clinicians tell us
“Current bedside assessments are subjective and episodic. Sipple gives my team objective, repeatable data, across every care transition.”
Dr. Louisa FerraraBoard-Certified Swallowing Specialist · NYU Langone
From insight to innovation
It started with the tools we didn't have
Conventional bedside methods, observation and cervical auscultation, suffer from low and highly variable sensitivity. The instrumental gold standards, videofluoroscopy and endoscopy, bring radiation, cost, invasiveness, family stress and limited access. The result is a system that is episodic, referral-dependent and blind to day-to-day change.
Dr. Caroline Martinez, a pediatrician with expertise in biomedical informatics, assembled a multidisciplinary team to build what the bedside was missing: an objective, on-demand aspiration-risk assessment that runs on the phone already in the room.
Getting started
Steps to partnership
You inquire
Tell us your setting and your population. We'll have a conversation, or two, about where Sipple fits your workflow.
We pilot together
A single unit, a handful of clinicians, the app on their phones. No capital equipment and nothing to install at the bedside.
Clinical use
Clinician portal, role-based access, EHR and FHIR integration, and a BAA. Reimbursement maps to existing CPT codes.
You monitor
Rescreen at every transition. Trends the whole care team can see, from the NICU to the first weeks at home.
Substantial market, small price to pay
Three million pediatric tests a year, and ten times that for adults
Some three million pediatric dysphagia tests are performed annually in the U.S., with roughly ten times that number for adults and seniors. International markets add significant further expansion.
A single gold-standard test commonly costs around $3,000 and a significant amount of staff time. Sipple is purchased by hospitals, NICUs, clinics and home-care organizations as a multi-use subscription tiered by monthly recording volume.
- CPT 92610Evaluation of swallowing function
- CPT 92526Treatment of swallowing dysfunction
- CPT 99453Remote monitoring setup
- SaMD codesDedicated codes evolving, 2026 onward
The team
Built by clinicians, backed by experience
Caroline Martinez, MD, FAAP, MS
Neurodevelopmental pediatrician and associate professor at Mount Sinai for over 15 years. NYU MS in Biomedical Informatics. Parenting Center co-founder.
Louisa Ferrara, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S
Board-certified swallowing specialist and neonatal speech-language pathologist. Clinical researcher, NYU Langone.
Simon Johnson
HL7 FHIR-certified software engineer. Technical lead for Jupyter Health. Solution architecture at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.
David Pring
Adjunct faculty, NYU Stern School of Business. Managing partner, BlindSpot Partners. Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship.
Magdalene Cook, MD
Over 20 years as an executive, investor and advisor in the life sciences industry. MD, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Clinical advisory board
- Jen Bragg, MD · Neonatologist and Medical Director, Mount Sinai Hospital
- Mandi Pek, MS, RD, CSP, RDN · Director of Clinical Nutrition, Mount Sinai Hospital
- Neina Ferguson, PhD, CCC-SLP · Pediatric feeding and swallowing specialist
- Emily Jaffe, MD · Executive Medical Director, Highmark Health
Ready to start?
Powering Early Intervention Together
Hospitals, NICUs, clinics, home care, research sites and platform partners: tell us where you are and we'll show you Sipple in your setting.