Former NHS leader, Jane Ollis, has launched an AI-powered vagus nerve stimulator to address the stress and burnout problem she witnessed during her medical career.
Chair of the Health Innovation Network for Kent Surrey Sussex and former vice chair of one of the biggest NHS Trusts in the UK, Ollis kept observing that people living with long-term chronic conditions often feel unsupported and struggled with the stress and isolation that their health challenges present.
“I saw people leaving hospital with treatment plans for their condition, but nothing for the stress, fear and isolation they’d face at home. It wasn’t right and it stayed with me,” she says.
Her response was to work with neuroscientists and engineers to develop Sona, an ear-worn device that uses adaptive AI to deliver personalised nervous system support, to help users stay calm, focused and resilient.
The device uses breath-synced pulses to target the vagus nerve, which calms the nervous system. This is enhanced with sounds, breathwork, or VR and users can create their own personalised routines. Sona measures heart rate variability (HRV) in real time and tailors stimulation to the current state of the user’s nervous system.
The vagus nerve runs from the brainstem through the heart, lungs and gut and is the body’s main control switch for recovery. When activated, it slows heart rate, dampens inflammation and shifts the body into repair mode. Vagus nerve stimulation has been clinically used for epilepsy and depression.
However, without efficient vagal activity, the body stays in a stressed, high-alert state, causing sleep to fragment, HRV to dip and inflammation to linger. This, in turn, blunts muscle repair, reduces training gains and increases injury risk.
A recent randomised, double blind, sham controlled crossover trial led by Queen Mary University of London and UCL found that non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation, delivered for 30 minutes daily over seven days, increased peak VO₂ by about 1.0 mL/kg/min, roughly a 4 per cent improvement, compared with no gain under sham stimulation. Participants also showed higher peak work rate, breathing rate and heart rate during exercise, along with reduced markers of inflammation.
Pre-clinical trials for Sona, with more than 100 participants, yielded measurable improvements in HRV and sleep after a single session. These results align with wider findings and point to its potential as a practical recovery tool for fitness.
Priced at £695, Sona is currently available for pre-order, with the first deliveries expected in December.
