Empatica
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Healthcare technology, Wearable devices |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | Matteo Lai, Simone Tognetti, Maurizio Garbarino, Rosalind Picard |
| Headquarters | Boston , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Matteo Lai (CEO), Simone Tognetti (CTO), Maurizio Garbarino (CSA), Rosalind Picard (Chairman and Chief Scientist) |
| Products | Embrace, Embrace2, E4 wristband, EmbracePlus, Aria, Empatica Care |
| Website | www |
Empatica Inc. is a spinout from MIT Media Lab located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, focusing on AI-driven healthcare solutions for prediction, monitoring, research, and therapeutic applications. The company creates medical-grade wearable technology, software platforms, and analytical algorithms to gather and analyze physiological signals. Its flagship devices, Embrace2 and E4, track metrics including Heart rate variability, electrodermal activity, motion, skin temperature, and autonomic nervous system responses. Embrace2 holds FDA clearance as a seizure alert system specifically for epilepsy patients experiencing generalized tonic-clonic seizures. The E4 wristband is extensively utilized by researchers for capturing real-time physiological measurements. Empatica's main office is in Boston, MA, with additional branches in Milan and Seoul.
History
Established in 2013 by Matteo Lai, Simone Tognetti, Maurizio Garbarino, and Rosalind Picard, Empatica’s executive team features Picard as part-time chief scientist and chairman, Lai serving as CEO, Tognetti as CTO, and Garbarino as CSA.
In 2014, the company collaborated with the Epilepsy Foundation to initiate an Indiegogo fundraising campaign for Embrace, a wrist-worn device aimed at detecting and alerting caregivers to grand mal seizures to help prevent Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).
Embrace obtained FDA approval for adult use in January 2018, marking it as the first medical wristwatch authorized for epilepsy monitoring. The subsequent version, Embrace2, launched in November 2018 and received FDA clearance for pediatric patients (ages 6 and older) by January 2019.
In November 2022, the FDA cleared Empatica’s Health Monitoring Platform for ongoing tracking of SpO2 levels, electrodermal activity, skin temperature, and movement during sleep periods.
Collaborations
Empatica works with the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) to develop a smartwatch intended to monitor astronaut health during the inaugural crewed mission to Mars.
Since 2018, Empatica has partnered with the U.S. Government’s BARDA Division of Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe) under HHS to design a smartwatch capable of alerting users about severe respiratory infections prior to symptom onset.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Empatica collaborated with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) to deploy wearable technology combined with algorithms that enable early detection of COVID-19 before symptoms appear.
The company also joined forces with Japanese multinational NEC on a health study focused on mitigating employee stress associated with karoshi.
Pear Therapeutics, a prescription digital therapeutics firm, integrates Empatica’s wearable sensors to monitor withdrawal symptoms in individuals suffering from substance use disorder, opioid use disorder, and alcohol use disorder.
Embrace
Embrace is a smartwatch engineered to identify generalized tonic-clonic seizures and notify caregivers promptly through its companion Alert application. Developed by Chief Scientist and co-founder Rosalind Picard at MIT Media Lab, Embrace evolved from sensors originally created to monitor stress and facilitate communication for children on the autism spectrum. The device’s ability to detect significant physiological changes during grand mal seizures revealed its utility in seizure detection.
Researchers and pharmaceutical companies also utilize Embrace to gather clinical-grade data. For instance, Sunovion employed Embrace during a phase 4 clinical trial of Aptiom, an epilepsy medication, in 2017. Additionally, in 2018 data collected by Embrace supported research into nausea experienced during zero-gravity flights.
Alert App
Alert is a subscription-based mobile application designed to operate alongside Embrace2, enabling users to send emergency calls and text alerts to selected caregivers, complete with accurate GPS positioning.
Mate App
Mate is a smartphone application that presents physiological information gathered by Embrace2, such as sleep data, physical activity levels, and step tracking. It also serves as an electronic seizure diary.
Research Portal
The Research Portal is a cloud-hosted platform that permits researchers to remotely access and examine the unprocessed data collected by Embrace devices during clinical studies.
E4 Wristband
The E4 wristband captures live physiological metrics for comprehensive analysis and visualization. Featuring sensors like PPG, EDA, a 3-axis accelerometer, and an infrared thermopile, it monitors arousal states in laboratory or real-world environments to investigate stress and emotional responses. Researchers utilize the E4 for diverse purposes including predicting relapse in substance use disorders, evaluating student engagement, and anticipating aggressive episodes in individuals with autism.
EmbracePlus
Introduced in November 2019, EmbracePlus is a research-grade smartwatch created in collaboration with NASA’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) to support extended space missions such as the Journey to Mars. It continuously records essential physiological signals from the wrist, including heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, skin temperature, electrodermal activity, rest patterns, and actigraphy data.
Empatica secured funding from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command to implement EmbracePlus integrated with the Aria algorithm for early detection of COVID-19 by monitoring vital signs and identifying infection indicators. This enables timely self-isolation and testing measures to limit virus spread.
In April 2021, EmbracePlus obtained the European CE certification as a Class IIa medical device.
Aria
Created in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ BARDA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Aria is an AI-powered wearable system comprising a mobile app and online dashboard. It aids in controlling infectious disease transmission by notifying users of early physiological signs of infection prior to symptom onset.
In November 2020, Empatica received funding from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command to deploy Aria alongside the EmbracePlus smartwatch for pre-symptomatic COVID-19 detection. By March 2021, Aria was awarded the European CE mark recognizing its early detection capabilities.
Empatica Care
Empatica Care is an artificial intelligence-based platform designed for continuous remote patient monitoring. Data collected by the EmbracePlus smartwatch is transmitted via Bluetooth to the Care App and subsequently uploaded to cloud storage. Healthcare providers access this information in real time through the Care Portal, enabling patient monitoring across diverse environments such as hospitals and private residences.
Empatica Care was also granted European CE certification for early COVID-19 detection in March 2021.