The problem
Falls are one of the leading healthcare burdens facing the NHS, particularly among older adults and people with neurological or balance-related conditions. More than 30% of over-65s fall each year, often triggering long-term decline and further complications.
Yet clinical assessment of balance and movement is still infrequent, and largely based on subjective tests performed in a clinic on a single day. Whatever happens in between is invisible.
The device
An on-ear wearable that combines several sensing modalities in one device:
- Heart rate
- Brain activity
- Eye movement
- Motion tracking
The aim is to translate earable devices into genuine clinical tools for monitoring balance, falls risk, and neurological health - picking up meaningful changes in real time so that people get the right support sooner, and can live well with long-term movement or balance conditions.
The work is being developed under a Frontier Fellowship.
My role
Mechanical design of the device:
- Internal architecture - fitting every PCB into an on-ear form factor
- Ensuring the assembly holds together under real wear
- Coordinating internal design against externally-led industrial design
- Balancing sensor placement against comfort and signal quality, which pull in opposite directions
Why it is hard
An ear is a small, awkward, highly variable mounting point. Every sensor wants a different position: EEG electrodes want skin contact, PPG wants stable pressure, an IMU wants rigid coupling to the skull. Comfort wants none of those. Resolving that is most of the mechanical design problem.