Research

Sonostics mission is to prevent the occurrence of dementia, by ensuring adequate brain blood flow in older adults.

While our brains make up just 2% of our body mass, over 20% of our blood flow is directed to the brain. The brain is critically dependent on blood flow, and even relatively small reductions in blood flow to the brain can cause serious health complications such as dizziness and increased risk of falling, memory loss, declines in reflex times, poor muscle coordination and tremor, and diminished executive function (planning, staying focused, following directions, decision making, etc).

Reductions in blood flow to the brain, in particular, when we are sitting or standing upright, is typically the result of a reduction in blood pressure, or what is called postural hypotension. This condition is quite common in older adults, occurring in over 25% of middle aged adults, and up to 70% of older adults. The reduction in blood pressure is a result of fluid pooling in the lower body when a person is upright, preventing adequate fluid return to the heart, leading to a drop in cardiac output.

Sonostics research and development efforts are focused on understanding why this fluid pooling occurs, and how this pooling can be prevented so that cardiac output can be maintained, and correspondingly, blood pressure, so that the brain receives adequate blood flow to allow it to function normally. Our work involves engineering analyses, physiologic studies, and clinical investigations.

Following are links to the peer reviewed research publications the investigators at Sonostics have undertaken to understand how brain blood flow can be maintained as we age.