EarSwitch awarded UKRI Healthy Aging Challenge Grant

EarSwitch – an in-ear medical monitoring start-up – has been awarded a UKRI Healthy Aging Challenge grant. This grant will enable EarSwitch to develop its EarMetrix product, initially for the UK’s diverse and aging population.

EarMetrics aims to provide in-ear sensors for standard hearing aids to measure temperature, heart rate, pulse and blood oxygen levels, and a medical first: continuous blood pressure monitoring.

More than 70% of those over 70 wear hearing aids. By enhancing hearing aid technology, doctors, care professionals and hospitals will be able to access a rich stream of medical data using a non-intrusive method.

It will also make information more readily available, allowing medical professionals to provide proactive support within virtual wards and allow older people to lead healthier and more independent lives. This is especially valuable for some members of the aging population, who may be reticent to test out new wearable devices but are happy to wear hearing aids.

Led by Newable Ventures and Britbots with a total of £1 million in funding and matching investment, EarSwitch will integrate, test and test EarMetrics into industry-standard hearing aids.

While in-ear wearables exist for fitness monitoring, there are significant issues with the technology. Some rely on static contact of the sensor with the ear canal wall and pose a risk of discomfort and interference from jaw movements during chewing and speaking. EarMatrix aims to fit seamlessly into the ear canal, minimizing these risks.

As well as being helpful in caring for older people, EarSwitch is powered by inclusion. Standard medical monitoring devices such as finger-clip pulse oximeters have been reported to give inaccurate readings for people with darker skin tones. This inaccuracy during the COVID-19 pandemic could mean diverse patients were denied anti-viral or oxygen treatment. Earmetrics overcomes this obstacle, taking measurements from an unpigmented part of the ear.

Through a successful seed investment, EarSwitch has already demonstrated pulse oximetry using its technology. It has been developed with the UKRI Biomedical Catalyst grant-funded project, working with the Health Tech Hub at the University of the West of England. Using its new funding, EarSwitch will incorporate three types of sensors into a hearing aid mold. These outputs standard measure for the first in-ear display of heart rate, pulse waveform, breathing rate, central oxygen saturation and ‘cuffless’ blood pressure options.

The grant and match investment of over £1 million, in partnership with Innovate UK, will help the company accelerate growth and expand its Bristol-based team, hiring new developers and operational staff. The development of EarSwitch so far has been funded by the NIHR, working with the University of Bath.

Dominic Keen, Managing Director of Britbots, said: “I am delighted that EarSwitch has won a UKRI Healthy Aging Grant, which means earphones and earbuds will get even smarter. EarSwitch’s rapidly growing intellectual property portfolio is opening a new frontier in wearable computing with massive upcoming potential for digital health and productivity applications.

Nick Gompertz, founder of EarSwitch, said: “Being awarded a UKRI Healthy Aging Grant will transform our company. I founded a GP with a vision to revolutionize the way people living with neurological conditions interact with the world through the power of the ear. Introduced EarSwitch as.

“Now, we are hoping to find a way for medical monitoring for virtual ward and care environments to be simple, cost-effective and efficient. By giving hearing aid wearers access to technology like us, we believe we can reduce the digital divide, improve care in the community and reduce congestion in hospital and care settings, at home in hospital can help.

EarSwitch will be on display at the Med-Tech Innovation Expo on 7-8 June 2023 in the Start-Up Zone on Stand C32G. Register for free here.