Anticipating Arrival of the Kernel Flow Device
Posted By David Boas, July 16, 2021
The Boston University Neurophotonics Center is excited to be one of the phase 1 partners with Kernel to receive a new cutting edge time domain functional near infrared spectroscopy system that Kernel calls the Flow system, as was announced by Kernel on Dec 2, 2020 here.
The capabilities of this Flow system were revealed in detail during a live stream event on Oct 27, 2020 that is summarized and archived here. I had the opportunity during this event to go through a tear down of the system with the Flow product lead Ryan Field at Kernel that you can view here.
The pandemic has caused supply chain disruptions in all sectors, as we are all well aware. As a result, we had to wait a little longer to get our Flow system. In anticipation of the upcoming delivery of the first Flow systems, Bloomberg Businessweek published on June 16, 2021 an article about Kernel with the tantalizing title “Can a $110 Million Helmet Unlock the Secrets of the Mind?”. Written by Ashlee Vance, this article provides an inside look into what motivated the Kernel Founder Bryan Johnson to develop the Flow system and its closely related Flux system, a wearable magneto-encephalography system for measuring magnetic fluxes resulting from brain activity. This was also discussed a few days later on the Bloomberg radio show Bay State Business coming out of Boston on June 18, 2021.
Now, one month later, we have been told that we will receive our Kernel Flow system next Tuesday. Stay tuned for more as we learn firsthand about the capabilities of this new time domain fNIRS system.