Every 20 seconds in America, someone develops diabetes. But, what if a subtle wearable device that can read your brain can help? That’s what neurosurgeon and entrepreneur Dr. Casey Halpern is building at SynchNeuro. He discovered that your brain is already tracking your blood sugar 24/7, and he's built a device that decodes these signals.
CGMs are exceptional, but they’re always 15 minutes behind. SynchNeuro monitors your glucose using AI & EEG technology in real time, is non-invasive, and sits hidden behind your ear.
With 100 million Americans facing prediabetes, could this become the new must-have wearable?
How does it work? When will it launch? What can it help with? And how did he build this business?
That’s what host Rangani Rangan and Dr. Halpern discuss in this episode.
In this episode, we dive into:
- How he discovered that the brain can monitor glucose
- The business and science of wearable technology
- The devices potential in chronic disease management, metabolism, sleep, and exercise
What we discussed
(00:00) Diabetes every 20 seconds
(00:47) Who is Dr. Casey Halpern?
(02:21) Deep brain stimulation (for quality of life improvements)
(04:11) Why our brains make us overeat
(05:58) Prediabetes = brain problem?
(07:32) Problem with CGMs (Continuous Glucose Monitors)
(09:21) Brain wearables = CGM alternative?
(12:32) Can brains predict glucose levels? (Stanford study)
(15:14) How the SynchNeuro wearable works
(17:44) 0 grants received
(18:18) Protecting his IP (dozens of patents)
(20:09) How to grow your healthtech
(20:37) When will they launch & FDA clearance
(23:19) Reducing bias in their data
(24:05) Criticism from neuroscientists
(27:05) Why they're not afraid of competitors
(29:50) Wearable adoption & potential
(32:21) SynchNeuro market penetration strategy
(33:49) Chronic disease management with wearables
(35:55) Clinicians’ unfair advantage in business
(37:43) Book recommendations
4 Key Lessons For Digital Health Entrepreneurs From SynchNeuro’s Journey:
- Health tech doesn’t have to route through hospitals
Many health founders build with doctors in mind. But doctors are maxed out, and insurance is a slog. Sync Neuro is bypassing all that. They’re seeking FDA-cleared but they’re building to be consumer-loved and designed for consumers. They want their device to be intuitive, cool to wear, and easy to buy without insurance.
- If it’s not habit-forming, it won’t scale.
People abandon wearables because they’re annoying, ugly, or unhelpful. SynchNeuro is focused on making it’s wearable desirable and insightful, not just functional. Not just “not ugly.” People should feel cool wearing it.
- Your IP strategy is your go-to-market moat
It’s not enough to have a great idea when you’re playing in a category that Apple, Dexcom, or Google might sniff around. You need to have exclusive licenses, deep IP protection, and a tight legal framework before you even raise real money.
- Don’t compete with big players. Redefine the category so they can’t follow.
Dexcom is the gold standard in CGMs. Sync Neuro isn’t trying to out-CGM them—it’s building a whole new surface-level data stream they can’t touch without rewriting their roadmap. That’s the play: don't go head-to-head. Make their whole model look outdated.
Links
Connect with Dr. Casey Halpern: LinkedIn
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