Medical Design Briefs - March 2024 - 8

Breaking Barriers
" The findings in this article are essential
in guiding our work to strengthen
and broaden the innovation ecosystem, "
says Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the
USPTO Kathi Vidal. " Women are severely
underrepresented in STEM fields, and
the emerging field of biotechnology AI
is no exception. Fortunately, studies like
these bring awareness to the issue and
help facilitate important conversations
and action. "
Given the incredible reach of AI
across technologies and organizations,
diversifying the AI innovation ecosystem
could produce substantial economic
gains. The study also shows that more
can be done to diversify the AI innovation
ecosystem, especially in the university
sector and within the emerging
field of biotechnology AI, an area where
women's participation is associated with
substantial value.
One Woman Shaping the Future of
Healthcare
Anna Barnacka, PhD, is a NASA Einstein
Fellow at Harvard and founder and
Anna Barnacka, PhD, CEO, MindMics
CEO of medtech start-up MindMics and
was " trained to solve the unsolvable. "
According to the company, " While researching
black holes billions of miles
away, she realized she had no precise
visibility into the inner workings of her
own internal galaxy. Anna decided to
listen to her brain - both figuratively
and literally. She leveraged her expertise
to create a sound system with the power
to accurately capture her unique health
data and deliver real-time guidance to
improve her life. "
Barnacka set out to discover a new
way of monitoring health that would
be as easy as listening to music and as
accurate as a medical device. By analyzing
low- frequency acoustical vibrations
detected in the ear canal, she was able
to capture subtle sound deviations that
together created a precise picture of her
health. In 2018, she launched MindMics
to create a next-generation health monitoring
platform using groundbreaking,
sound-based technology - known as
infrasonic hemodynography (IH) - embedded
in every day earbuds. Her innovation
worked so well that MindMics was
recently granted a patent for its hearable
technology, marking a significant leap in
the field of cardiovascular health, offering
a novel, noninvasive approach to disease
monitoring and management.
" This patent is more than an innovation;
it's a commitment to a healthier future, "
says Barnacka, who is the primary
inventor. " Our vision extends beyond this
invention, aiming to develop adaptable
algorithms and software solutions for
widespread earbud use. This approach
will soon provide unparalleled cardiovascular
health insights, with the potential to
substantially reduce the global burden of
cardiovascular diseases, " she says.
The wireless, noise-canceling earbuds use infrasonic sound heart monitoring.
(Credit: MindMics)
8
Biofeedback in motion. The system can work with an ECG chest strap to monitor well-being
with or without earbuds. (Credit: MindMics)
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Medical Design Briefs, March 2024
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Medical Design Briefs - March 2024

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