A Korean tech startup is making headlines after it has already been funded and preparing to launch by 2015 the commercial version of a medical wearable that can help fight against Alzheimer's disease.
Founded in 2013, Ybrain, which is also the name of the wearable, is composed of Korean engineers from Caltech, Samsung, and Google, headed by the neuroscientist Kyongsik Yun. It has developed a special kind of wearable that can gather brain wave signals, which can then be analyzed to help research or treat Alzheimer's disease, especially in delaying and reducing the symptoms. Over 4 million U.S. individuals are living with Alzheimer's disease with around 500,000 of them dying each year, making it one of the deadliest disorders in the country.
This medical wearable looks like a headband with a pair of embedded sensors. Worn around the temples, the wearable then works on stimulating the brain through its sensors. During the brain activity, the data in the form of brain waves are then gathered by the wearable then fed into a major system where big data can be stored and managed.
Currently, the team has already designed some prototypes, and they are being dispatched to non-profit sectors, university hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies as part of the clinical trial.
They have also raised sufficient funding so they can already proceed to the next phase of design and production, which is to make the medical wearable more commercially viable. They received over $600,000 as a seed fund from an investor whose name was never revealed in press releases. They then received an addition of over $3 million during the next round of funding from investors such as Stonebridge Capital.
Once it will be released commercially, Ybrain may be recommended to patients between fifties and sixties who are showing signs of mild impairment of their cognitive or diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The patient can wear the headband for 30 minutes every day, 5 days a week, anywhere they feel comfortable and convenient.
