Cercacor is launching Ember – the world’s first non-invasive hemoglobin tracker for athletes – this week at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Using only light waves, Ember measures hemoglobin and pulse rate in less than 90 seconds without needles, a blood draw or need for a lab. Users can take their measurements as often and wherever they wish with this handheld, wireless device.
Irvine, California-based Cercacor and Ember are on the newest frontier of understanding how measuring, tracking and analyzing hemoglobin can impact endurance sports training and performance. By determining and tracking hemoglobin levels, athletes can begin to learn how this key measurement may change due to training, hydration, recovery times, diet and elevation.
Hemoglobin is the substance in blood that carries oxygen to muscles and boosts endurance. When hemoglobin levels are lower than normal, the body lacks oxygen and the heart and lungs must work harder to compensate – thus diminishing performance.
How Ember Works:
Athletes download the Ember app to their smartphone or tablet, which then connects to the Ember device via Bluetooth. Athletes use the app to view, build a historic record, segment and track their collective data. They can instantly share one measurement or entire data files with their friends, fellow athletes or coaches by email, SMS and social media via Ember’s app. If the user enables location services, each measurement also includes weather conditions, elevation and location at the time it was taken.
“Ember breaks a major barrier in sports training and performance monitoring,” explained Joe Kiani, founder and CEO of both Cercacor and Masimo. “We see Ember as a game changer for competitive athletes, Olympians, professional sports teams and their coaches who want an advantage by maximizing the benefits of altitude training, and having a unique window into their endurance capacity and physiology.”
Ember & Elevation Training:
Prior to competition, endurance athletes often want to boost their hemoglobin and frequently rely on elevation training to do this. However, most never check their levels before, during or after elevation training to know what’s happening at elevation and how long their boosted levels last. (And, most elevation camps don’t customize training based on an individual’s response to altitude training.)
By effortlessly taking daily measurements before, during and after elevation training (which is highly impractical with blood testing), Ember enables athletes and their coaches to better: 1. Optimize the duration (& elevation) of their altitude training; 2. Understand how long their elevated hemoglobin levels last; 3. Know how soon to compete after altitude training to maximize their hemoglobin-boosting gains; and 4. Customize their altitude training.
Cercacor is working with several world-renowned experts in hemoglobin and sports physiology to test Ember with hundreds of athletes, develop testing protocols, and make it a vital tool for endurance athletes. Several top-ranked triathletes and cyclists have also been using Ember since the summer of 2015.
Ember & TrainingPeaks:
Cercacor is working closely with global endurance training software provider TrainingPeaks, which will soon incorporate three of Ember’s key measurements – resting hemoglobin, pulse rate and elevation – into its dashboard. These data points will be visible with athletes’ workout data when they upload their Ember information directly into the TrainingPeaks interface.
An Evolving Platform:
Through future updates to the Ember app, Cercacor will continue to incorporate and enable athletes to measure, record and historically observe additional markers, including: heart rate variability, oxygen content, sleep quality and methemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)
