Filling in the Gaps With Outpatient Stroke Care

CaroRhythm began as a clinical collaboration between Dr. Albert Favate, the Division Chief of Vascular Neurology at New York University (NYU) Langone Health, and the NYU Clinical Biophotonics Lab (CBL). Dr. Nisha Maheshwari (CEO, co-founder) and Lokesh Sharma (co-founder), who were working in the CBL at the time, jumped at the chance to investigate pain points in current stroke care after seeing the devastating effects of stroke first-hand within their own families. The team conducted hundreds of interviews with clinicians, stroke survivors, caregivers, and administrators and discovered a huge gap in continuity of care for stroke survivors after they leave the hospital.

Stroke recurrence accounts for 25% of all strokes annually. Recurrences are most common within the month after survivors are discharged from an initial stroke event, and this is also the window when survivors have little to no contact with clinicians. Recurrent strokes are often more severe with higher likelihoods of long-term disability, morbidity, and mortality. Despite this, there are no outpatient stroke monitoring devices available on the market.

Survivors and caregivers face difficulty distinguishing between a common headache and a stroke recurrence, which leads to one of two common choices: (1) survivors hesitate to seek care, causing symptoms to worsen and making them ineligible for time-sensitive treatment options or (2) survivors go to the ER whenever they notice a new symptom, even when an ER visit is unnecessary. “Outpatient monitoring is an incredible way for survivors to know with certainty

that they are having a stroke, and for clinicians to have access to the critical information needed to plan treatment response,” said Maheshwari.

The team designed an optical imaging device to continuously and non-invasively track key stroke risk indicators such as embolic activity and hemodynamic changes in real-time through the carotid arteries. CaroRhythm plans to bring this groundbreaking research to survivors, caregivers, and clinicians.

In 2026, CaroRhythm was named a global Deep Tech Pioneer and was the recipient of a New York State Innovation Matching Grant award. A successful proof-of-concept study with NYU Langone Health in healthy subjects, published in Biosensors, has paved the way to develop other clinical partnerships for preliminary feasibility studies. The preliminary studies will be used to secure an FDA Breakthrough Device designation and bring CaroRhythm one step closer to providing affordable, accessible, and life-saving care to over 100 million stroke survivors globally.