# SonoHeal: Smart Resonating Closed-loop Airway Clearance Technology

> **NIH NIH R44** · COGNITA LABS, LLC · 2023 · $772,672

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects 30,000 patients in the USA with an average life span of 37 years
and the majority (85%) of the mortality is a result of lung disease1. Airway Clearance Therapies (ACT) are extensively
used by patients for forceful mechanical clearance of mucus accumulated in airways using high pressure and high
frequency vibrations2. However, the use of ACTs is tedious, inconvenient, and poses a tremendous burden on patients
who are recommended to perform ACTs several times daily4,5. Without effective ACT, the mucus-plugged airways trap
bacteria causing infections, inflammations, respiratory failures, and other complications. ACT is also used by patients
with lung conditions where mucus clearance is necessary (e.g. bronchiectasis, COPD, Asthma).
 ACT works on the principle of vibrating the lungs to increase mucus mobility. Ideally, the therapy needs to be
individualized and continuously adaptive for effective clearance. However, none of the current ACT devices and
techniques, including chest physiotherapy, high-frequency chest compression, oscillation, and acoustic vibration
therapies, are adaptive. The challenges with current ACT devices:
1. Brute-force approach: Patients have diverse airway geometry, mucus accretion levels, and obstruction locations.
Optimal therapy requires input frequencies to match the resonant frequency of specific airways to target mucus
clearance. Current ACT devices work on a set vibration pattern (Vest, oPEP, CPT) or a “feeling-based” subjective
tweaking of input frequencies and airway location (Frequencer, VibraLung), often rendering them ineffective. 2.
Subjective Assessment: None of the current devices measure lung function to provide a quantitative assessment of the
airway obstruction or therapy progress putting the burden on the patient to determine treatment effectiveness. 3. Poor
Quality of Life: As a result, patients perform uncomfortable ACT for long durations to see a positive effect, leading to
poor adherence to ACT. Further, home ACTs are considered ineffective for a large segment of the patient population
due to the lack of personalized treatment.
Cognita Labs’s proposed solution, SonoHeal, will be the first device to adapt the treatment in real-time based on the
patient’s lung status, such that the right airways are targeted for stimulation/vibration to reduce the reliance on
patient’s guesswork as well as provide effective therapy by localizing airway clearance. SonoHeal will utilize Cognita’s
patent-pending airway monitoring technology that measures airway obstruction in real-time. Combined with quantified
lung response with mucus localization information, SonoHeal will algorithmically tune the right resonant frequency to
target patient’s airways and promote effective mucus removal. In this proposal, Cognita’s team will bring years of airway
modeling, device technologies and commercialization experience to build the devoce, conduct in-vitro experimentati...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10532248
- **Project number:** 5R44HL152912-03
- **Recipient organization:** COGNITA LABS, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Rajoshi Biswas
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $772,672
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2025-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10532248

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10532248, SonoHeal: Smart Resonating Closed-loop Airway Clearance Technology (5R44HL152912-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10532248. Licensed CC0.

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