Wearable technological-devices claiming to monitor brain health have captured public interest, yet they frequently face scrutiny from medical professionals demanding rigorous evidence.Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal recently introduced one such innovation with his Temple device, a compact sensor positioned near the temple to measure cerebral blood flow continuously. What it was and where it stands for medical professionals, read on to know more.
Understanding the temple device
Developed under Goyal’s Eternal and Continuous Research initiatives with approximately $25 million in personal investment, Temple represents an experimental, open-source wearable. Goyal has worn versions in silver during Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast and gold at public events.The device seeks to provide real-time data on brain circulation, which Goyal links to his Gravity Aging Hypothesis.He proposes that gravitational forces gradually impair cerebral blood supply, contributing to cognitive decline in ways reminiscent of broader physical principles.
Expert from AIIMS weighs in on this
Dr. Suvrankar Datta, a radiologist at AIIMS Delhi and an early researcher in arterial stiffness since 2017, offered a pointed critique on X. He described Temple as a “fancy toy for billionaires” possessing “zero scientific standing” as a medical instrument. Dr. Datta cautioned against consumer spending on unproven technology, emphasizing that measurements from temporal arteries do not equate to established diagnostics, such as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. This gold-standard metric reliably forecasts cardiovascular mortality, unlike experimental wearables lacking clinical trials.
Grounds for Scientific Cautiousness
The claims made by the device have yet to be tested by peer-reviewed scientific study in comparison with established approaches like Doppler ultrasound or MRI imaging. The many sources of variability brought on by posture, hydration, and heart rate render the results unreliable.The hypothesis asserting the direct relationship of the force of gravity to the aging of the brain has yet to be shown to be validLarger implications regarding neurotechnology Temple highlights Eternal’s journey from just being the name of a proposed longevity study to being applied to cognition tracking. Once validated, applications would range from cognition tracking for working or sporting individuals to the elderly.Open-source development promotes community collaboration. Doctors stress waiting to see results. Vascular tracking is already done well through approved medical products.It is the responsibility of influential individuals to innovate, but safety also has to be well-proven. Ultimately, the place of Temple will become clear through ongoing clinical trials to determine its role as a valid cognition-tracking technology.
