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©2024 BJHA

Editors: Manan Pancholy,
Brynn Goggins
Researcher: Michelange Senat
Designer: Kira KarafotasA Sharper Sense

Sensations - they govern the very essence of how we interpret the reality around us. The way we hear, see, touch, smell, and taste is intrinsic to what it means to be humans. However, as we age the acuity of our sensations steadily decreases. According to the CDC, one out of six Americans over the age of 70 has visual impairment and one out of four has hearing impairment. This trend of vision and hearing impairment more than doubled for persons aged 80 years and compared with persons aged 70-79 years. As we live longer and longer due to advancements in modern healthcare and disease treatment, the need to address such sensory deprivations continues to grow. Worryingly, the US’s population as a whole is steadily aging as well. With a new “silver wave” being predicted, in 2020 nearly 1 in 6 Americans were over 65 years old, a jump from the 1 in 20 a century ago. Our sensations are critical for the ability to function independently and enjoy life, something which Professor Charles Rodenkirch, CEO of Sharper Sense, understood. 

Sharper Sense promises “neuromodulation for clear senses”, with a mission to create a “neuromodulation patch that enhances your senses while worn. Placed on the neck, it [...] improves accuracy of hearing, vision, and touch”. According to the company's website: “When alert and attentive, your brain optimizes sensory processing for accurately perceiving details. Sharper Sense activates this natural sensory enhancing mechanism by stimulating a nerve in the neck that connects into the brain.” It also is “noninvasive, safe, and comfortable.” Furthermore, the Sharper Sense Patch can “enhance performance and safety” during tasks that require fine motor control; their need is emphasized as “enhanced senses prevent miscommunication and misperceptions.” Currently, their client base includes athletes, gamers, operators, artists, students, and older adults.   

Currently, Sharper Sense works through neuromodulation, or the stimulation of certain parts of the brain at specific regions. Specifically, the Sharper Sense Patch is located near the neck and the vagus nerve, where it boosts norepinephrine. The increased levels of norepinephrine stimulate the sympathetic nervous system’s activity and thus improves attention and awareness of the environment. Furthermore, Sharper Sense does not trigger a significant increase in dopamine, which could be detrimental to downstream nerve function. Sharper Sense is unique since it takes a non-invasive approach towards the regulation of neurotransmitters, something which has only been managed through the use of pharmaceuticals thus far. Pharmaceuticals are expensive, limited in use, and biologically more wasteful when compared to neuromodulation. 

Much of the science and technology behind Sharper Sense is based on significant advancements since 2010 within the growing intersection between brain and computer interfaces. This field is known as “systems/computational neuroscience,” which focuses on the analysis of the brain pathways and perceptions. Dr. Rodenkirch found that performance enhancement could be achieved through neuromodulatory measures. Within rodent models, they found that by recording and reconstructing how brain signals are encoded, they could simulate sensations such as sight and hearing. With Sharper Sense they found that technological stimulation of the neck improves the ability to distinguish between speech and noise. 

Dr. Rodenkirch claims that since Sharper Sense is a non-invasive, non-significant risk device it will follow a faster timeline compared to other FDA devices towards patenting and getting on to the market. They plan a period of 5-6 years of preclinical neuroscience work to better refine the device itself and then 2 years of pilot clinical studies with smaller populations of patients to test efficacy. In the final year, they hope to achieve FDA clearance through hardware and clinical trials, which take approximately 6 months. 

In the future, Sharper Sense hopes to test their products' interactions with hearing aids and broaden their audience from senior citizens into the larger hearing care market. Sharper Sense represents the promise of neuromodulation, AI, and greater computational power to create a more personable and individualistic medical approach. Through a closed-loop technological approach and novel neurostimulation method, Sharper Sense hopes to make the world clearer for everyone.  



1     Products - Data Briefs - Number 31 - April 2010. (2020). https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db31.htm

2    Caplan, Z. (2023, May 25). https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/05/2020-census-united-states-older-population-grew.html

3     Sense, S. (2024). Sharper Sense. Sharper Sense. https://www.sharpersense.com/home#about