The American Heart Association (AHA) awarded top honors to two health technology companies at its Health Tech Competition during Scientific Sessions 2026, held Nov. 7-8 at McCormick Place in Chicago. MedRhythms, based in Portland, Maine, received the Best Business, Audience Choice and Best Overall awards for its digital health and neurotherapeutics solution that combines sensors, software and music to help people improve walking and mobility after stroke or other neurological injury or disease. Vascudyne, based in St. Paul, Minn., received the Best Science award for its bioengineered blood vessel technology, which is being developed to provide alternatives to harvesting a patient’s leg vein for coronary bypass surgery and to create grafts for children with congenital heart defects that have the potential to grow with them.
The competition, hosted by the AHA Center for Health Technology & Innovation, received a record number of submissions from health technology companies around the world. Following a rigorous multi-stage review by AHA volunteer experts across healthcare, science and industry, five finalists were selected for their potential to improve how cardiovascular and brain health conditions are prevented, diagnosed and treated. The other finalists were HEARTio, MEGI, and Seerlinq.
“The Health Tech Competition gives us a close look at technologies designed around real challenges facing patients and clinicians,” said Lee Shapiro, JD, chairman of the board of the American Heart Association and managing partner of 7wire Ventures. “This year’s winners demonstrated the attributes essential to advancing health technology: strong scientific evidence, meaningful business potential and innovative ways to address the challenges of those in need.”
MedRhythms’ at-home, prescription therapy uses precisely timed music cues to help retrain walking. Foot-worn sensors track the patient’s walking, while software adjusts the music’s rhythm to the person’s movement. “Millions of people are living with walking difficulties after stroke, yet many have limited access to effective rehabilitation once they leave the clinic. Our solution brings a personalized, music-based therapy into the home, using foot sensors and tailored rhythmic cues to improve walking and ambulation,” said Brian Harris, founder and chief executive officer of MedRhythms. “This recognition helps raise awareness of the need stroke patients face and supports broader access for patients who could benefit from these therapies.”
Vascudyne’s bioengineered grafts are intended to reduce the need to harvest a vein from a patient’s leg for bypass surgery and, for children with congenital heart defects, provide a conduit designed to grow with them. The company uses human donor cells to grow tissue, then removes the cells and leaves behind a collagen framework. “Heart surgeons have always had to choose between living tissue harvested from the patient and off-the-shelf materials that can’t heal or grow,” said Zeeshan Syedain, PhD, chief executive officer and co-inventor of Vascudyne. “Our bioengineered vessel is both, ready on the shelf and designed to become the patient’s own living tissue. For adults, that could mean bypass surgery without harvesting a leg vein; for children with congenital heart defects, an implant that grows with them. Winning the Best Science award is a meaningful recognition of the science behind it as we advance our clinical trials.”
The recognition matters because promising health technologies often struggle to move from innovation to real-world care, limiting their potential to improve cardiovascular and brain health. By spotlighting these solutions, the AHA aims to accelerate their development and adoption. The competition’s record submissions and rigorous review process underscore the growing interest in addressing unmet needs in heart and brain health. For more information about the Health Tech Competition, visit ahahealthtech.org/aha-health-tech-competition-2026. Additional resources include the AHA news release Health tech competition finalists advance solutions for heart and brain health and Global health tech competition aims to accelerate innovation improving cardiovascular and brain health. The AHA provides health information at heart.org and stroke.org.
