On Tuesday, STAT Health, a digital health startup, announced its new in-ear device designed to help people better understand certain symptoms like dizziness and fainting.
The device, named the STAT, measures blood flow to the head by tracking users’ heart rate, blood pressure trend and blood flow when they stand up. The STAT can be used by individuals suffering with symptoms from long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and other orthostatic (caused by standing) syndromes, according to Yahoo Finance.
The device was clinically tested at Johns Hopkins and peer reviewed in the March 2023 issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and was proved to be able to predict fainting minutes before it happens.
So, how does a piece that goes in your ear do this? The STAT device uses an optical sensor and “taps into a shallow ear artery to measure a proxy to ultrasound-derived Cerebral Blood Flow,” Yahoo Finance reported.
The STAT is the world’s smallest wearable, significantly smaller than earbuds and even some invisible hearing aids, and can be worn while sleeping and in the shower.