Q&A with Adrian Cohen, founder of Headsafe
A note on projects
It’s generally fair to say that one of the biggest markers of recognition in the product design industry are the various awards handed out each year to those companies that excel in an element of the process or the full stack for new products. If you follow these events like we do, you would have seen recently that the winners for the Good Design Awards 2020 were announced. And guess what? The Nurocheck project for Headsafe that we designed the electronic hardware and firmware for only went and took out the TOP PRIZE!
It’s always a great feeling when a project you’ve worked on wins any award, but for this to be named the overall Good Design Award of the Year is just amazing. Even better, it’s for an IoT Healthcare product that is really changing the landscape when it comes to brain assessment after impact, an important topic for the medical industry, sports industries and the military to name a few.
Nurochek works by presenting visual stimulus to the wearer through the goggles, while the EEG sensor in the rear of the headset captures the brain’s electrical response and transmit this data to a smart phone or similar device for analysis. Conditions like concussion can be objectively identified and the data is simultaneously stored and secured in cloud for future review.
The Good Design Awards celebrate the contribution of design to business and the community as a whole. Entries must not only look great, but work effectively and create the right experiences for the end user.
We caught up with the man behind the *Nurochek idea, the CEO of Headsafe Dr Adrian Cohen, to get his insights on the project:
Q&A with Headsafe
LX: So what was the driving force behind this project?
Headsafe: Brain health is a major issue that is difficult to objectively measure. Brain injury from sports, vehicle accidents, falls and in the military together with important neurological diseases like dementia, delirium and PTSD have relied on lengthy, expensive and complex clinical tests up until now.
Nurochek will change all that.
I wanted to create a portable, low-cost, objective and sophisticated measure of brain function. I’m happy to say that is now a reality, literally: a brain scanner in a briefcase.
To give context to the need for this kind of device, globally this is a 17 billion dollar problem affecting nearly 60 million people each year, and half of these are children.
LX: What is it that makes this product a stand-out in its class?
Headsafe: Nurochek has several unique features that differentiate it from current brain assessment methods.
First and foremost, Nurocheck is an objective assessment of a proved “physiological biomarker” of disease, being changes in the brain’s electrical activity. It does not rely on subjective assessment of physical symptoms or clinical opinions.
For example, when a rugby player takes a head hit on the field, current diagnosis methods can include asking the patient questions to determine brain function or evidence of concussion. This is not always accurate – Nurochek will give you an objective reading of that player’s brain function and help determine whether it’s safe for them to return to play.
Secondly, it’s portable. It can be used in the field for immediate analysis (Nurochek can deliver a reading in 2 minutes) as well as delayed analysis in clinician’s rooms. The device itself is light…it weighs less than 2kg so it can be carried in a briefcase, making it suitable for military use or on the sporting field.
LX: What are your thoughts on the growth of IoT Healthcare?
Headsafe: Healthcare can no longer remain unconnected! From the sharing of medical information, research data and patient records, to “smart” devices which convey objective information to allow assessment, manage treatment and reinforce medical decision-making, there is no going back to the old ways!
For outdoor recreational and vocational activities, this is particularly important as it saves time (and potentially lives) when vital health information can be acquired and acted upon long before the individual arrives in a hospital or clinic.
This is the territory where Nurochek excels – Small, portable and applicable at the site of injury or local doctor’s rooms, not just at big hospitals.
LX: Tell us something that surprised or impressed you about this process?
Headsafe: Medical products and their development are strictly regulated and controlled, understandably for safety concerns, thus taking longer and costing more than many other IoT areas. We were able to create and have approved in the US a brand new IoT Healthcare device in less than 3 years…we’re told this is something of an anomaly!
A note on projects…
With over 15 years of experience in developing and designing electronic products for a whole range of industries including medical, we know a thing or two about how to plan a project. And as a full stack operator, we can help you throughout the full process or jump in where needed.
If you’d like to talk to our team about your electronic/IoT product idea, get in touch today.
Also check out our latest post to help avoid the pitfalls of product development and making it from design to manufacture.
See more about Nurochek at www.headsafe.com
*Nurochek is a Prescription only device. Available for sale in the US
