# Bloomer Augmented Garment Platform-Barrier Removal for women in cArdiac rehab (BRA)

> **NIH NIH R44** · BLOOMER HEALTH TECH INC · 2024 · $933,816

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Bloomer Tech is advancing development of the Bloomer Augmented Garment Platform, a wearable bra with
embedded sensors to address cardiovascular healthcare disparities in women. Cardiovascular disease is the
leading cause of death in women, resulting in nearly 315,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2020, where women generally
experience worse outcomes than men including increased disability, hospitalization, and earlier mortality.
Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is strongly recommended by the American Heart Association and the American
College of Cardiology for a variety of indications based on evidence for reduced mortality and morbidity and
increased quality of life. Unfortunately, only ~15% to 20% of eligible women participate in this life saving program,
compared to 22% to 30% of men. Critically, barriers to participation may differ between women and men and
different interventions may therefore be required to increase adherence. Research suggests that supporting
women through expanded access to safe, remote access of CR-related exercise routines holds significant
potential to improve adherence and broadly improve cardiovascular outcomes in women. Specifically for women,
there is an opportunity to increase adherence by catalyzing their motivation and increasing frequency of
reinforcing conditions that provide reassurance, supervision, and validation to her achievements in the program
and support her adherence within the care continuum. A continuous remote sensing platform that women felt
safe and comfortable in holds significant potential to promote adoption and adherence to CR. To address this
need, Bloomer Tech has developed the Bloomer Augmented Garment Platform, a female bra with embedded
textile sensors that are washable and designed specifically for collecting cardiac biomarker information from
women. Bloomer Tech has demonstrated Phase I equivalent proof-of-concept by creating an MVP software
platform, establishing device manufacturing best practices, and demonstrating reproducible sensor signal quality
in a variety of different bra sizes necessary for continuous monitoring. The goal of this project will be to
demonstrate that the Bloomer Tech Platform increases adherence to CR compared to the current standard of
care through a robust randomized clinical trial in women prescribed CR at the University of Florida Medical
Center and Lakeland Regional Health in Florida. Furthermore, the trial will assess overall participant perception
of safety and comfort using the Bloomer Tech bra. Success with these goals will support commercial adoption
by both clinicians and patients by demonstrating that patients can safely and comfortably participate in CR both
in the clinic and during at-home exercises that are not directly supervised by a clinician.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10911167
- **Project number:** 5R44HL169065-02
- **Recipient organization:** BLOOMER HEALTH TECH INC
- **Principal Investigator:** Alicia Chong
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $933,816
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-21 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10911167

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10911167, Bloomer Augmented Garment Platform-Barrier Removal for women in cArdiac rehab (BRA) (5R44HL169065-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10911167. Licensed CC0.

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