Overview: Cardiometabolic health refers to the integrated functioning of the cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) and metabolic systems (how the body breaks down food to create energy), encompassing factors such as blood pressure, lipid levels, glucose regulation, adiposity, and inflammatory status. It reflects an individual’s risk for conditions like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. As people age, physiological changes (e.g. reduced insulin sensitivity, increased vascular stiffness, and altered body composition) make maintaining cardiometabolic health more difficult. Declines in cardiometabolic function contribute to frailty, reduced mobility, and diminished physical reserve, which in turn heighten the risk of functional impairment and thus are a major contributor for older adults not being able to age at home. New wearable devices and AI-based biomarkers are helping to improve monitoring and assessment of multiple aspects of cardiometabolic health in the home setting.
MassAITC Pilot Project Highlights: MassAITC has funded multiple projects focused on monitoring and diagnosing cardiometabolic health and related conditions from low-cost devices for more accurate heart rate and blood pressure monitoring to innovative earables that are enabling novel vital-sign monitoring in real-time. MassAITC Year 1 pilot awardee Dr. Edward Wang (UCSD) founded a company, Billion Labs, in December 2022 to transform everyday smartphones into powerful, low-cost medical devices. Billion Labs has subsequently won additional pilot funding from MassAITC (Year 3) and CAPCaT. Their published research has been highlighted by the NIH. MassAITC Year 1 pilot awardee MindMics released a consumer version of their MindMics Heart Health System in May 2023, which was featured on the TODAY Show. MindMics was also accepted into the prestigious HeartX accelerator. More information on funded pilots in this area is listed below, along with additional resources including MassAITC webinars touching on this topic area.
Wearable Heart Failure Socks for Exacerbation and Treatment Monitoring
Pamela Z. Cacchione, University of Pennsylvania. Li Shen, University of Pennsylvania. Heart Failure Monitoring Socks will be used in hospitalized persons with heart failure to gather data on heart failure exacerbations and responses to treatment. We will use this data to develop predictive models for edema and fatigue due to heart failure.
Contactless Cardiovascular Health Monitoring for AD using an AI-Enhanced mmWave Radar
Justin Chan, Carnegie Mellon University. Swarun Kumar, Carnegie Mellon University. Neelesh Nadkarni, University of Pittsburgh. The proposed work uniquely aims to measure pulse transit time and blood pressure across different arterial points across the body using the reflections of wireless signals from a single AI-enabled mmWave radar device, which is a key enabler towards whole-body blood flow monitoring both in home and clinical environments.
AI-Driven Earpiece Wearable to Enhance Symptom Management, Self-Care, and Caregiver Support in AD/ADRD Patients
Selina Zhu, Lumia Health. Paolo Bonato, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. This pilot will test the Lumia ear wearable in people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), allowing users to track blood flow to the head and report symptoms through a voice-controlled AI assistant. The study will focus on usability and adapting Lumia’s technology for older adults with cognitive impairments.
Measuring Heart Rate using Biomagnetism-based Wearable Devices
Longfei Shangguan, University of Pittsburgh. This project will aim to develop an innovative wearable system that leverages biomagnetism to deliver more accurate heart rate and respiration monitoring across diverse skin tones.
A Downloadable Oscillometric BP Monitor for All Smartphones with No Attachments
Edward Jay Wang, Billion Labs Inc. This project aims to establish accessible early screening of hypertension by democratizing BP monitoring. We aim to achieve this by converting the billions of smartphones into oscillometric BP monitors without hardware add-ons.
Preventing falls before they occur: validating a wearable sensor for Orthostatic Vital Signs
Amar Basu, Wayne State University, Michael Busa, UMass Amherst. This project will evaluate TRACE, a novel wearable sensor for monitoring orthostatic vital signs continuously at home, whenever an individual stands up.
Vascular aging using infrasonic hemodynography embedded into everyday earbuds
Anna Barnacka, MindMics Inc. The MindMics pilot project explored the use of infrasonic hemodynography (IH) technology embedded in everyday wireless earbuds to monitor cardiovascular health and assess vascular aging.
Smartphone blood pressure monitoring for healthy aging
Edward Jay Wang, UCSD. The pilot project focused on developing and validating BPClip, a low-cost, smartphone-based blood pressure monitoring device.
MassAITC Webinars on Cardiometabolic Health
Past Webinar – Listening to the Heart: In-Ear Infrasonic Technology for Blood Pressure and Beyond
Abstract: This talk will highlight the results of MindMics’ recent feasibility study on non-invasive blood pressure monitoring using in-ear infrasonic signals. Dr. Barnacka will discuss how this novel technology, validated through clinical research, can be integrated into both consumer earbuds and hearing aids, creating a new class of connected health devices. The presentation will explore the underlying infrasonic science, algorithmic advances, and the broader impact on cardiovascular health, preventive care, and data-driven wellness ecosystems. Biography:
Past Webinar – No One Left Behind: Building Low-Cost Wearables for Low-Income Communities, Longfei Shangguan
Abstract: Wearable devices such as Apple Watch and Fitbit wristband allow users to track their health statistics around the clock. They have become increasingly popular over the past few years. However, in the context of low-income areas of United States, these wearable devices are still pricey and thus constitute a critical bottleneck in their adoption. In this talk, I will present our past and ongoing works on repurposing electronic wastes, particularly everyday earphones into health trackers – from heart rate monitoring, heart sound recovery, all the way down to pulse wave velocity estimation in home settings. I will also discuss the potential of these technologies for filling the gap of remote health care. I believe this research creates a holistic approach toward recycling and repurposing electronic waste while fostering a
Past Webinar – Intelligent Mobile Systems for an Aging World, Justin Chan (September 23, 2025 @4pm ET)
Abstract: By 2050, older adults will make up about 22% of the global population, driving an urgent need for accessible and reliable health technologies. In this talk, I will present our work on intelligent mobile systems designed for older adults. The first enables low-cost health screening using everyday earphones and wireless earbuds. The second is an ambient sensing system that uses smart devices to detect emergent, life-threatening events such as cardiac arrest. The third leverages compact AI-enabled radios for cardiovascular monitoring, including blood pressure. Through these examples, I will show how computational and sensing techniques that generalize across hardware and operate in real-world environments can address pressing societal challenges. Biography:
Webinar – Advances in Cardiovascular Health Monitoring to Support Healthy Aging at Home, Anna Barnacka and Edward Wang
Overview: This webinar comprises two presentations from Anna Barnacka of MindMics and Edward Wang of Billion Labs. They each describe the work from their MassAITC a2 Pilot Award on addressing heart health monitoring. Anna Barnacka delves into a patented in-ear IH technology that enables heart health monitoring through TWS earbuds and discusses future plans to make this technology accessible to all. Edward Wang describes the VibroBP Smartphone app, the first app of its kind to use AHA-recommended oscillometry methods to ascertain BP and that does not require per-individual calibration. Abstracts: About the Speakers:
MassAITC Webinar – Wearable Acoustic and Vibration Sensing and Machine Learning for Human Health and Performance, Omer Inan
This talk will focus on: Abstract: Recent advances in digital health technologies are enabling biomedical researchers to reframe health optimization and disease treatment in a patient-specific, personalized manner. This talk will focus on my group’s research in two areas of relevance to digital health: (1) cardiogenic vibration sensing and analytics; and (2) musculoskeletal sensing with joint acoustic emissions and bioimpedance. Our group has extensively studied the timings and characteristics of cardiogenic vibration signals such as the ballistocardiogram and seismocardiogram, and applied these signals for cuffless blood pressure measurement, heart failure monitoring, and human performance. We have also leveraged miniature contact microphones to measure the sounds emitted by joints, such as the knees, in the context of movement, and have examined how these acoustic characteristics are altered by musculoskeletal injuries and