Introduction
Ceribell is a Sunnyvale medical technology company founded in 2014 that builds an AI-powered point-of-care electroencephalography (EEG) platform for detecting and managing non-convulsive seizures in acute care settings. Jane Chao, PhD, serves as co-founder, president, and chief executive officer per Ceribell’s leadership page. The Ceribell System combines portable headband hardware with AI algorithms — including Clarity for electrographic status epilepticus — designed to reduce the hours-long delays typical of conventional EEG setup in ICUs and emergency departments.
On July 22, 2024, Ceribell announced publication of a multi-center retrospective study in Neurocritical Care associating Ceribell point-of-care EEG with 4.1 days shorter median ICU length of stay, fewer patients discharged with poor functional disability scores, and 19 hours faster median time to EEG acquisition versus conventional EEG. Brel cites this release because hospital buyers weigh neuro AI on operational outcomes — not only diagnostic sensitivity in isolation.
What the company does
Ceribell deploys a rapid-setup EEG headband with cloud-connected AI analysis that flags suspected seizure activity for clinicians treating critically ill patients. The platform is FDA 510(k) cleared for indicating suspected seizure activity and utilized in ICUs and emergency rooms across the U.S. per company materials. The Clarity algorithm generation received 510(k) clearance for diagnosing electrographic status epilepticus — described by Ceribell as the first and only device with that indication at clearance time — and subsequently received a CMS New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP).
Point-of-care design targets the workflow gap where conventional EEG requires specialized technicians and hours to acquire studies while non-convulsive seizures continue undetected in sedated or critically ill patients.
Who it serves
Ceribell serves hospital neurocritical care teams, emergency physicians, and ICU nursing staff managing patients at risk for non-convulsive seizures and status epilepticus. The July 2024 study drew from SAFER-EEG trial patient records across academic hospitals — environments where delayed EEG contributes to inter-hospital transfers and prolonged ICU occupancy.
Principal investigator Masoom J. Desai, MD, FACNS, of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, is quoted on patient and family impact of shorter ICU stays and better functional outcomes. Ceribell sells to facilities seeking to compress door-to-EEG time from median 25.3 hours with conventional EEG to 5.9 hours with Ceribell per study findings cited in the release.
Company background
Ceribell was founded in 2014 in Sunnyvale by Jane Chao and Josef Parvizi, MD, PhD — Parvizi remains board co-founder per leadership disclosures. Chao leads executive operations as president and CEO with CTO Raymond Woo, PhD, and CFO Scott Blumberg on the executive team. Ceribell has pursued FDA Breakthrough Device Designations and published comparative outcomes research building toward standard-of-care positioning for point-of-care EEG in acute settings.
Ceribell went public in a medical-device IPO per its news archive — a financing path that increases disclosure expectations for hospital procurement committees evaluating vendor stability alongside clinical evidence. Chao is quoted in the July 2024 outcomes release on improving neurodiagnostics through frontline EEG access, framing commercial strategy around operational outcomes hospitals can audit.
Product and AI capabilities
Ceribell’s AI analyzes EEG signals from its portable headband to detect patterns associated with non-convulsive seizures and status epilepticus faster than conventional workflows allow. Clarity’s NTAP reimbursement, referenced in Ceribell’s July 2024 press release body, matters for hospital finance committees evaluating neuro diagnostics on margin impact — not only neurologist clinical preference.
The SAFER-EEG primary study published in Neurology demonstrated Ceribell point-of-care EEG performs comparably to conventional EEG in forecasting seizure risk using the 2HELPS2B score — linking AI triage accuracy to established clinical scoring frameworks ICU teams already recognize.
Key developments
2014: Ceribell founded in Sunnyvale. 2022: Two FDA Breakthrough Device Designations per company history in press materials. 2023: Clarity algorithm 510(k) clearance for electrographic status epilepticus; CMS NTAP awarded. July 22, 2024: Neurocritical Care publication on ICU length-of-stay and functional outcomes versus conventional EEG.
Why it matters
Ceribell matters because non-convulsive seizures in ICUs are underdiagnosed when EEG access is slow — yet procurement committees increasingly demand economic and length-of-stay evidence alongside algorithm performance. Ceribell’s published outcomes data and NTAP pathway give neuro AI buyers reimbursement-aware evaluation criteria. Compare with neurology workflow AI such as Viz.ai in stroke triage — overlapping acute-care urgency, different modality and coding infrastructure.
The July 2024 study’s 18 percentage-point reduction in poor modified Rankin Scale scores at discharge translates abstract seizure detection into functional patient outcomes neurologists and hospital administrators can discuss in the same QI meeting — a narrative advantage over vendors selling sensitivity metrics alone.
Sector context
Ceribell belongs in Brel’s AI in healthcare coverage under AI medical devices and neurocritical care, related to EEG analytics companies such as Beacon Biosignals in sleep and ambulatory brain monitoring. Imaging AI vendors like Qure.ai address different acute pathways with distinct FDA clearance and hospital committee review processes.
Sources and references
Ceribell ICU outcomes press release (July 22, 2024) and leadership team page.
- Ceribell — ICU study publication (ceribell.com, July 22, 2024)
- Ceribell — Leadership team (ceribell.com)
Reviewed July 10, 2026. Jane Chao, PhD, is co-founder, president, and CEO. Founded 2014 in Sunnyvale. Clarity NTAP cited in official press release.