Engineered For Space, Built For Earth

Noor Haj-Tamim turned her vertigo into innovation, founding Avionova, a MedTech startup making space-grade cryotherapy earbuds that restore balance in seconds, bridging cutting-edge space research with practical healthcare solutions.

- Amal Abdelwahab

For centuries, motion sickness has defined how humans move, from ancient mariners to astronauts. When the brain receives conflicting signals from the eyes, inner ear, muscles, and joints, balance falters.

Nearly 70% of astronauts experience it within the first 72 hours, according to a study published at the National Library of Medicine, while 40% of Americans report balance issues at least once in their lifetime, a burden that costs the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $48 billion each year.

Existing motion sickness treatments - from sedatives to invasive procedures to behavioral habituation - can take up to an hour to work, often fail to provide lasting relief, and may cause side effects such as drowsiness and headache, according to recent studies published at the National Library of Medicine. Existing wearables may alleviate motion-related symptoms such as nausea and vomiting; however, none currently available on the market offer real-time balance recovery.

"I came into this field thinking about astronauts, and then I became the patient," says Noor Haj-Tamim, founder and CEO of Avionova, and a commercial astronaut candidate. U.S.-based Avionova is developing patent-pending, cooling-based wearable technology that gently modulates outer-ear temperature, a pathway that affects vestibular sensation. Its lightweight earbuds and disposable devices aim to offer a noninvasive, drug-free way to support comfort and orientation in motion-intensive environments. Avionova's research roadmap includes exploring potential applications across aviation, spaceflight, and broader sensory wellness, with early-stage investigations also examining possible benefits for broader auditory and neurological wellness, subject to future clinical evaluation. "Two weeks into building the solution, I had my first major vertigo episode. Suddenly, I wasn’t just solving a space problem, I was solving my own," the 21-year-old entrepreneur recalls.