In-Ear Device Detects Faint Signals

Symptoms such as dizziness, brain fog, headaches, fainting, and fatigue can significantly impact the lives of the individuals who experience them. These symptoms often occur in conjunction, making daily activities challenging and negatively affecting overall quality of life. Many times these problems accompany medical conditions like COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or chronic fatigue syndrome. In other cases, there is no clear association between the observed symptoms and any known medical condition.

It has long been believed that these symptoms are related to a reduction in blood flow to the brain. However, this theory has been difficult to prove conclusively because measuring cerebral blood flow must be done in a clinical setting, by trained medical professionals, and with expensive, complex equipment. As such, proxy measurements, like blood pressure and heart rate, have often been used, but these only give a rough estimate of actual blood flow to the brain.

In order to really get a handle on what a person’s cerebral blood flow looks like, monitoring should be continuous throughout the day, as that person goes about their normal activities. While this was not feasible in the past, a new in-ear wearable device called STAT may soon make it possible. This tiny device is placed in the ear, above the ear canal, where it can coexist alongside earbuds or headphones as it captures regular measurements of cerebral blood flow.

STAT leverages an optical sensor to measure blood flow in the ear, which is supplied by the external carotid artery, which also supplies the brain with blood. It also is equipped with an accelerometer, a pressure sensor, and temperature sensors so that blood flow can be correlated with other events, like standing up or walking. And with a battery that lasts several days on a single charge, STAT appears to be practical for continuous use.

The device pairs with a smartphone app that gives the user insights into their own condition. The hope is that these insights might help individuals to better manage their symptoms, and possibly even provide a warning if someone may be at risk of fainting, so that they can avoid standing up or engaging in any other strenuous activities.

To prove the utility of STAT, it was clinically tested at Johns Hopkins University. This resulted in the publication of a peer-reviewed academic paper that proves the device can predict fainting minutes before it actually happens. However, it must be noted that STAT is not intended for diagnostic use at this time.

It may be that STAT is exactly the breakthrough we need to finally be able to adequately measure cerebral blood flow, which has been described as a critical missing vital sign. That may be a little way off yet though — the device is not yet available for sale. You can sign up for early access via a beta testing process on STAT Health’s website, but if you do not make the cut, it will probably be mid to late 2024 before STAT is officially on the market.