Sanjay Phadke was on a flight again from his journey to the USA a yr and a half in the past, at 40,000 ft, when he abruptly awoke from his mid-flight sleep to witness a heavy chest and uneasiness. Perplexed, he rushed to his smartwatch to examine his heartbeats and checked an ECG solely to seek out some irregular findings. Desperate to discover a means in and out reacting to the state of affairs, he utilized his Yoga expertise of exhaling slowly to cut back breathlessness and with decided makes an attempt to breathe slowly, he progressively gained management over his coronary heart fee. After doing it over and once more for an hour or so, he discovered the second ECG appeared regular.

This mid-air well being disaster put Phadke to go to the core of the issue to seek out that to beat crises like those he confronted or to pre-empt such conditions for a wholesome life, one should have a prepared template of realizing and decoding the ‘breath,’ which is the only real purpose of 1’s existence and decides the situation of coronary heart, thoughts, and a physique as a complete.

This pursuit of reaching an inclusive answer for a wholesome and blissful life by integrating the deep science and know-how centred round ‘breath’ gave rise to a tech platform Phadke and his workforce established known as ‘Breath AI.’

“Breath AI’s wrist wearable is equipped with an array of sensors, including temperature sensors, photoplethysmography, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and bio-impedance sensors. These sensors work together to measure breath composition, heart rate variability (HRV), and other essential biomarkers, providing a comprehensive picture of an individual’s health status,” says Phadke, founding father of deep sci-tech firm Virtual Sense Global Technologies which has launched Breath AI.

Banker-turned-technologist

Phadke accomplished his mechanical engineering in 1994. He professed as a banker for a few years and turned a technologist, integrator, and researcher on humanities. He landed in Pune in 2016 and labored with Vayana Network, a fintech startup in provide chain financing.

“After incorporating Virtual Sense Global Technologies, we initially worked on different ideas including one of creating an ‘Alexa’ of fragrances and making a breath analyser for diabetes. We debuted with this at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2020, but then Covid-19 struck. Because of Covid-19, we could not continue working on breathing as a medium, but we realised that it is important to understand the “human body as a machine” constantly. This made us change primarily in the direction of a wearable and we labored on this concept for the following three years,” stated Phadke.

Preventive well being

Preventive well being area and wearable gadgets for well being monitoring area is exploding. The miniaturisation of wearables will carry clinics or hospitals to our fingertips with sensor-based medical precision stories obtainable on a steady foundation.

The present wearable market measurement in India is ₹58,000 crore and is anticipated to double by 2028. It is estimated that there might be 23 per cent enhance within the inhabitants with psychological well being points in India, which is able to make psychological well being providers inaccessible and dearer. There is just one psychiatrist per 4 lakh inhabitants in India. At current, the associated fee per counselling session is wherever between ₹800 to ₹6,500 as the supply of counsellors is a priority.

“By analysing and providing personalised breath-work approaches, Breath AI can help users tackle a whole host of acute issues of health and tap into their hidden potential. Further, its recommendation engine will suggest exactly what the user’s body needs. Breath AI has employed a team of designers and technologists and experts from fields like yoga, meditation, and expressive arts to provide solutions to work on the niche areas for more mindful living,” provides Phadke.

Breath and HRV

“We considered two components of the human body as a machine – breath and HRV. To measure these two components, we need precise statistics with newer sensors (hardware) that understand more about health. Once we have enough data, then the data science analytics and dials to change the trajectory from a stressed state to a calm state. The easiest of the dials to start with is breath,” explains Phadke.

“While HRV is a bridge between body and mind, or the state of balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, which also acts as the marker for the state of the bridge. So, if we take HRV-based measurements as the indicator, then breath becomes the dial to ‘tune’ the state to a better mode. There is an intricate relationship between the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system. These systems coexist and influence each other. If we start breathing slower, then automatically the system will reset,” he stated.

Wearables and sensors

Says Phadke, “Most wearables today talk about understanding the physiology or the body in terms of step count or heart rate etc. There is no way to measure mental or emotional health. This is what took us back to our roots in Ayurveda where we talk about health being a state of balance.

“The idea of Breath AI band or wearable is a pioneering, non-invasive technology that will help the user to track stress, sleep, and the complete BMW (Body, Mind, and Wellness) for total happiness. It’s effortless sensing, based on the user’s unique bio-data, the recommendation engine suggests activities and interventions that help to reach the health-related goals,” Phadke said.

Explaining the anticipated outcomes from Breath AI variables, Sanjay stated, “In the first version of the mobile app, our sophisticated recommendation system detects stress and recommends courses related to breathing techniques to users. In the advanced versions, we will have breath sensors into which the users can breathe into. The exhaled breath analysis will let the user know about the condition of his heart and brain.”

Partnerships

“Breath AI has partnered with Kaivalyadhama, a Yoga Institute in Lonavla for the research and trials. Within India, we have tied up with IISER and IIT Bombay. Outside India, we are in discussion with Harvard Medical School in the United States and Monash University in Australia, informed Phadke. We have also partnered with Shopify for distribution of the Breath Band, while for manufacturing the critical electronic components, Breath AI has tied up with India’s largest PCB manufacturer Shogini Technoarts,” Phadke stated.

Expansion plans

Sharing his plans, Phadke stated, “At present, we have a team of 20 members. We are now approaching the Australian regulatory authorities, to tap the Australian market. We will also look at other markets like Japan, Europe, and the US. On the services front, we would be offering a lot more services to third-party coaches in the form of subscription services. The idea is to offer a full health monitoring and improvement system.”