The Sparrow Link Story

Daniel Powell [00:00:05]:
We recently launched Sparrow Link, a research-focused device inspired by your experiences as research scientists. Alejandro, tell us about your background and the inspiration behind this product.

Alejandro Covalin [00:00:22]:
I’ve been doing research for 20 years. Anytime you want to change equipment, cue timing, or sync signals—it’s a huge pain. Devices don’t let you modify much. Sometimes I had to build custom circuits just to get what I needed.

Daniel Powell [00:00:57]:
And you’re talking beyond just amplitude, pulse width, frequency?

Alejandro Covalin [00:01:01]:
Completely. With Sparrow Link, researchers can fully integrate the device into their experimental setup. If you want stimulation to be cued by an event—like a sound—you can control that directly from your central computer. We provide APIs, so you can program the device precisely: when to start, stop, change settings—everything can be customized and aligned with your experiment.

Daniel Powell [00:02:12]:
And Navid, we didn’t build this in a vacuum. How many calls were you getting from researchers asking for this?

Navid Khodaparast [00:02:19]:
Constantly. When we got “famous” for auricular neurostimulation with Sparrow Ascent, researchers were excited—but frustrated. Ascent is FDA cleared, which ironically made it difficult to use in research. They wanted to hack it.

Navid Khodaparast [00:02:40]:
They needed control over every stimulation parameter—waveform, duration, pairing it with EEG or other tech. We started customizing Ascent: option 1, option 2, option 15... Eventually we realized—we just need to give them the power.

Daniel Powell [00:03:16]:
Just give the power to them.

Navid Khodaparast [00:03:18]:
Exactly.

Daniel Powell [00:03:19]:
I remember you both pitching this idea. At first I didn’t get it, but you convinced me it made total sense.

Navid Khodaparast [00:03:27]:
Sparrow Link lets researchers do complex studies, especially around neuroplasticity. With neurostimulation, you can pair stimuli—sounds, visuals, even games—with precise stimulation timing to boost outcomes. But researchers didn’t have a way to time-lock those inputs.

Navid Khodaparast [00:04:38]:
If stimulation didn’t trigger at the exact moment during a task, the effect was lost. Their only options were building systems from scratch or using massive benchtop devices—bulky, intimidating, and impractical, especially for pediatric trials.

Navid Khodaparast [00:05:18]:
Sparrow Link blends into the background. It’s safe, portable, and based on a trusted, FDA-cleared platform.

Daniel Powell [00:06:03]:
And it’s ambulatory. You’re not tethered to a huge machine.

Navid Khodaparast [00:06:11]:
Exactly. In my stroke studies, we had to roll around big stimulators. With Link, patients just slip it in their pocket. They stay mobile, and the stimulation integrates naturally into their activity.

Daniel Powell [00:06:40]:
And since it’s based on our FDA device, it can go to market. But it’s not regulated like an FDA device, so researchers have full flexibility.

Alejandro Covalin [00:06:52]:
Yes, that’s important. It’s not locked down with parameters—it’s totally open. Researchers define the use case. Once they’re ready, we can lock the parameters, manufacture under FDA standards, and they just need to supply their clinical data. Biocompatibility and quality controls are already handled.

Daniel Powell [00:08:18]:
Which saves millions—we know because we built it.

Alejandro Covalin [00:08:21]:
Right. This saves researchers time, money, and effort—while also helping the populations they serve.

Navid Khodaparast [00:08:34]:
Plus, it streamlines IRB approval. It’s built to FDA standards, manufactured under quality controls, and comes with a non-significant risk (NSR) designation. That means researchers don’t need an IDE—they can go straight to IRB and get faster review.

Daniel Powell [00:09:36]:
NSR being non-significant risk.

Navid Khodaparast [00:09:38]:
Right.

Alejandro Covalin [00:09:40]:
And we know that designation is likely—because we’ve seen it approved repeatedly.

Navid Khodaparast [00:09:58]:
The other benefit is in grant writing. Researchers spend most of their time writing grants, and funding committees want assurance that the tech is real, reliable, and feasible. Sparrow Link gives them that edge. It’s open, programmable, and polished—not some hacked-together benchtop Frankenstein.

Alejandro Covalin [00:10:43]:
Reviewers want to know you can deliver what you propose. Link provides that credibility. They can say, “Yes, we have the tools to do this.”

Daniel Powell [00:11:09]:
We remove that risk.

Navid Khodaparast [00:11:10]:
Exactly. If they go to commercialization, would you rather scale a patched-together lab system—or a production-ready platform?

Alejandro Covalin [00:11:23]:
Grant reviewers are more likely to approve funding if there’s a clear path to real-world application. With Link, there’s a lower risk and higher likelihood of delivering therapy to the public.

Daniel Powell [00:12:01]:
I love this because it aligns with our mission—we’re a company about the science. We can’t do it all ourselves, but with Link, we empower others to move the field forward. It’s a phenomenal product. Great job.

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