Work environments and other brain-intensive activities impose high demands on the cognitive and cerebral resources required to process vast amounts of information. This high demand can expose individuals to cognitive overload, which can be dangerous for their health and lead to errors and accidents. Excessive cognitive workload is particularly common while driving and flying and can affect those recovering from various conditions like concussions.

The Need
Several technologies, such as electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG), are available for monitoring workload cognitive function. However, these systems are expensive and bulky, require direct contact with electrodes, experience poor signal quality, and prove challenging to obtain and analyze data.

The Technology
Dr. Asimina Kiourti's lab has developed a wearable device for measuring cognitive workload in real-time. It quantifies cognitive activity workload using heart rate variability (HRV) derived from non-contact magnetocardiography (MCG) sensors.

Commercial Applications
This device can be used by healthcare providers, companies, and individuals to measure and evaluate cognitive workload during strenuous activities and disease.

Benefits/Advantages
Compared to existing EEG and ECG sensors, this invention provides a non-contact, real-time, wearable sensor for obtaining high-quality cognitive workload data.

Pending PCT/US2023/078051