North Shore InnoVentures, a technology incubator and business accelerator, announced that, along with two of its other portfolio companies, sleep improvement wearable maker InsomniSolv Inc received a Milestone Achievement Program grants from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. A total of $2 million was awarded to twelve early-stage companies to help them complete essential value-creating milestones and attract additional outside funding.

InsomiSolv is developing a wearable medical device that improves sleep without drugs. The product has sensors to detect the sleep state and modify the stimulations, for example turning them off once asleep, and restarting them if awakening. It consists of two wrist bands, one on each wrist, which are controlled by a smart phone app. The rhythmic stimulation is called alternate bilateral stimulation (ABS) and is provided by small vibration motors, similar to those used in cell phones. ABS is a method of alternately stimulating the left and right sides of the body, which alternately engages opposite hemispheres of the brain. The stimulations alternate at a slow frequency, the same frequency as brainwaves in slow wave sleep, the manufacturer says.

Once available, InsomniSolv plans to sell the device for $299.

Proceeds from the grant will be used to run an initial clinical trial at Mass General Hospital.