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A team of students has set out to address a serious health complication for children needing life-support.

After learning that approximately one in three children on life-support suffer a stroke, the group undertook a journey to help what, they say, is an overlooked and underserved population of paediatric and neonatal patients.

They started NeuraSense, an entrepreneurial venture providing a continuous stroke-monitoring system for children.

鈥淥ur solution is composed of three components which have been optimized for the complex life-support environment: a wearable headset, an algorithm, and an application,鈥� says team member and recent graduate Lily Gentile, BSc (Eng)鈥�25. 

鈥淲e wanted to emphasize interpretability throughout all components of our project to ensure doctors can take action immediately, especially in settings where every second counts.鈥�

What started as a capstone project at April鈥檚 won the students an award. They received a runner-up award at the and victory at the .

Diverse interests positively impact health care 

Gentile 鈥� along with fellow students (and also recent grads) Shekinah (Yna) Arpon, Fionna Dela Cruz and Tania Rizwan, all BSc (Eng)鈥�25, and Christine Dowling, BComm鈥�09, BSc (Eng)鈥�25 鈥� says the journey started as they were picking their capstone project.

They wanted to find something in the entrepreneurial stream that would incorporate their diverse interests and skills while also having a positive impact on health care.

After speaking with researchers about their idea, the team started working on it with the help of their Schulich advisors.

Arpon says the headset continuously records blood oxygenation and electrical signals in the brain.

鈥淥ur customized algorithm is then used to process these signals and detects any irregularities and asymmetries between the two hemispheres of the brain,鈥� adds Dowling. 

Arpon says the application visualizes brain signals in real-time, after which it, 鈥渁nalyzes them with the algorithm and displays the algorithm outputs and stroke risk through an intuitive interface built for clinicians.鈥�

The team received encouraging feedback and product validation from doctors and nurses, and Dowling says everyone has been open to the innovation and willing to try new solutions for improving patient outcomes.

Feedback sparks excitement for next steps

Dela Cruz says winning awards and recognitions at different competitions underscores the impact of the project.

鈥淎fter eight months of dedicated effort, seeing everything come together and receiving such positive feedback has been incredibly rewarding,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he traction we gained and the quality of conversations we have had 鈥� with both academic and industry professionals 鈥� have energized us and sparked real excitement about the next steps.鈥�

Rizwan says it鈥檚 not lost on them that their achievements have been achieved as an all-women team. 鈥淎ccomplishing this in a field where it鈥檚 still relatively rare has made this experience even more special,鈥� she says. 

鈥淚t felt like we weren鈥檛 just building something valuable, but we were also quietly challenging expectations and showing what鈥檚 possible.鈥�

The team is now actively exploring additional funding avenues and future pitch opportunities as they develop NeuraSense further, post-graduation.