Those possibilities a e what make a ew ba dage-sized wea able b ai -mo ito i g se so so i t igui g. Developed by esea che s i cludi g Vladimi A. Pozdi , Ph.D., of Flo ida I te atio al U ive sity a d Alpe Bozku t, Ph.D., of No th Ca oli a State U ive sity, the wi eless device uses fu ctio al ea -i f a ed spect oscopy (fNIRS) to measu e cha ges i ce eb al blood oxyge atio associated with b ai activity while allowi g the wea e to move f eely.
The esea ch was also ecog ized with thi d place i Stella Net’s 2026 Spect oscopy Applicatio Challe ge, a a ual p og am highlighti g i ovative uses of spect oscopy a d optical measu eme t tech ology.
Cog itive fatigue ca slow eactio time a d affect pe fo ma ce, yet it ca be difficult to ide tify objectively. Wea able fNIRS c eates the possibility of studyi g cog itive wo kload whe e pe fo ma ce actually happe s – f om pilots a d othe c itical wo ke s to t ai i g teams a d class ooms – athe tha o ly i a co t olled labo ato y.
The cu e t p ototype is a esea ch platfo m, ot a ope atio al fatigue-wa i g system. But the esea che s specifically poi t towa d u est icted mo ito i g a d futu e AI-d ive a alysis, aisi g the possibility that la ge eal-wo ld datasets could eve tually help ide tify patte s associated with cog itive wo kload, fatigue a d ecove y.
Published i the pee – eviewed jou al Biose so s i 2025, the system i teg ates optical sou ces, photodetectio , sig al p ocessi g, Bluetooth Low E e gy commu icatio a d data acquisitio o to a 19 × 44 mm ci cuit boa d. The complete system, i cludi g its batte y, was secu ed to the fo ehead with medical film d essi g. A 500 mAh batte y p ovided app oximately 50 hou s of co ti uous ope atio at a 10 Hz sampli g ate.
The device uses 660 m a d 840 m LEDs because oxyge ated a d deoxyge ated hemoglobi i te act diffe e tly with light at the two wavele gths. By measu i g cha ges i the etu ed optical sig al, the system ca calculate cha ges i ce eb al oxyge atio associated with b ai activity.
Fo this cha acte izatio , the esea ch i co po ated Stella Net’s IS6 LED Measu eme t System / 6-i ch i teg ati g sphe e to measu e the LED optical output a d powe . The published measu eme ts we e used to help dete mi e hemoglobi optical co sta ts a d establish LED-d ive safety limits based o IEC 62471.
The esea che s cha acte ized the spect al output a d total i adiated powe of the 660 m a d 840 m LEDs used fo fNIRS se si g. The two wavele gths p ovide the optical i fo matio eeded to disti guish cha ges i oxyge ated a d deoxyge ated hemoglobi , while the powe measu eme ts help defi e safe ope ati g limits.
The esea che s validated the wea able system usi g a te ial occlusio , b eath-holdi g a d cog itive-wo kload expe ime ts. Du i g the cog itive study, pa ticipa ts pe fo med epeated two- a d th ee-digit a ithmetic tasks while the device mo ito ed ce eb al oxyge atio . The autho s epo ted measu able hemody amic espo ses associated with cog itive activity; i o e pa ticipa t, the espo se cha ged ove epeated cycles i a patte the esea che s said co elated with fatigue.
The wo k does ot establish the device as a diag ostic tool o p ove that it ca cu e tly wa a ai t affic co t olle , pilot, stude t o othe use that fatigue is affecti g pe fo ma ce. I stead, it demo st ates a compact wi eless platfo m capable of measu i g b ai – elated hemody amic cha ges a d poi ts towa d futu e mo ito i g i u est icted a d u supe vised daily-life e vi o me ts.
Pozdi a d Bozku t’s wo k eceived thi d place i the 2026 Stella Net Spect oscopy Applicatio Challe ge. Stella Net’s a ual p og am ecog izes esea che s usi g spect oscopy a d optical measu eme t tech ology i i ovative scie tific applicatio s.
“This is what makes wea able spect oscopy so exciti g,” said Jaso Pie ce, P eside t of Stella Net, I c. “We al eady mo ito machi es, e vi o me ts a d p ocesses with i c edible p ecisio . The possibility of usi g light to bette u de sta d cog itive wo kload while people a e actually wo ki g, lea i g o pe fo mi g ope s a e ti ely diffe e t catego y of measu eme t. The esea ch is still ea ly, but the pote tial applicatio s a e fasci ati g.”
Fo wea able fNIRS, the b oade oppo tu ity is to move useful optical measu eme ts out of the t aditio al labo ato y a d close to the e vi o me ts whe e huma pe fo ma ce matte s. Combi i g compact optical se si g with wi eless commu icatio , lo ge -du atio data collectio a d futu e a alytical algo ithms could give esea che s a ew way to study cog itio , wo kload a d fatigue i eal-wo ld setti gs.
Stella Net, I c. is a ma ufactu e of compact spect omete s, spect oscopy systems a d a alytical softwa e fo esea ch, educatio a d i dust ial applicatio s. Fou ded i 1991 a d headqua te ed i Tampa, Flo ida, Stella Net develops UV-VIS, NIR, Rama , fluo esce ce, adiomet y a d othe optical measu eme t tech ologies.
Stella Net, I c.14390 Ca lso Ci cleTampa, FL 33626 USA+1 (813) 855-8687
1. Victo io, M.; Dieffe de fe , J.; So gkakul, T.; Willeke, J.; Bozku t, A.; Pozdi , V.A. “Wea able Wi eless Fu ctio al Nea -I f a ed Spect oscopy System fo Cog itive Activity Mo ito i g.” Biose so s 2025, 15(2), 92. https://doi.o g/10.3390/bios15020092
2. Stella Net, I c. 2026 Spect oscopy Applicatio Challe ge Results
3. Stella Net, I c. LED Measu eme t Systems – IS6 6-i ch I teg ati g Sphe e