The ONDA Research Network
A partnership programme validating the 24-Step Neuro-Physiological Framework — from autonomic stability to high-density neural coherence.
We invite academic laboratories, clinical research groups and independent investigators to co-design longitudinal studies using the ONDA biofeedback platform as instrumentation.
Why this programme exists
Consumer biofeedback applications routinely make implicit clinical claims — improved stress, attention, sleep, mood — without longitudinal biomarker validation. ONDA's mission is to invert that asymmetry: ship the product, then collaborate with independent researchers on rigorous, pre-registered evaluation.
The 24-Step Framework formalises a progression hypothesis — that stable autonomic homeostasis is a prerequisite for cognitive control, which in turn supports network integration, structural plasticity, and ultimately peak-state coherence. Each step in the framework binds to measurable biomarkers (HRV indices, plasma BDNF, cortisol dynamics, EEG coherence, fMRI network metrics).
We are looking for partners to operationalise that hypothesis: design the studies, define the cohorts, supervise the analyses, and co-author the results.
The 24-Step Framework at a glance
Twenty-four sequential steps grouped into five blocks. Each block maps to a primary anatomical / functional target and a defined biomarker set. The mobile app currently ships an 8-level subset spanning every block; the remaining steps are activated as the longitudinal data supports each phase.
Autonomic Homeostasis
Establishing the physiological baseline. Vagal-tone optimisation, resonance breathing (0.1 Hz), CPG-driven motor coordination, defensive circuit regulation.
- Anatomy:
- Brainstem · Spinal Cord · Vestibular nuclei
- Biomarkers:
- HRV (rMSSD, SDNN, DFA α1) · VOR gain · interoceptive accuracy
Executive Function & Social Intelligence
Sustained attention, working memory, cognitive flexibility. Transition into social-emotional regulation and group-state coupling.
- Anatomy:
- Prefrontal Cortex · Default Mode Network · Mirror neuron system
- Biomarkers:
- Attention span · DMN deactivation efficiency · interpersonal neural synchronization (hyperscanning EEG/fNIRS)
Network Integration & Interoceptive Accuracy
Visceral integration via the insular cortex. Tri-network metastability between DMN, Salience and CEN. Vagal-modulation of large-scale coherence.
- Anatomy:
- Insula · Somatosensory cortex (S1/S2) · Thalamus · Salience/CEN/DMN
- Biomarkers:
- Heartbeat-counting (Schandry task) · galvanic skin response · EEG Phase-Locking Value (PLV) · cross-network functional connectivity (fMRI)
Structural Neuroplasticity
Allostatic-load downregulation. LTP-driven amygdala remodelling. Epigenetic regulation of HPA-axis stress markers. Long-term cortical thickness changes.
- Anatomy:
- Amygdala · HPA axis · Hippocampus · Prefrontal cortex
- Biomarkers:
- Plasma BDNF · Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) · IL-6, TNF-α · gray-matter density (structural MRI)
Peak States & Transient Hypofrontality
Global phase coherence. Cross-frequency coupling. DMN suppression and transient hypofrontality consistent with Dietrich's flow-state framework.
- Anatomy:
- Thalamo-cortical loops · Reticular formation · Whole-brain networks
- Biomarkers:
- EEG gamma synchrony · Lempel-Ziv complexity (Brain Entropy index) · PET glucose metabolism · DMN decoupling (fMRI)
The user-facing app currently exposes Levels 1–8, covering Blocks 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the framework. Block 3 (Network Integration) is the natural next dependency — pending the longitudinal Eye-Scan v2 baseline that supplies the required biomarker pipeline.
Where partners help most
Below are the specific empirical questions we cannot answer internally and that we are scoping with partner laboratories. Each item below is a candidate co-authored study.
Cardiac-coherence dose-response in 30-day cohorts
Does daily 10-minute resonance-breathing (0.1 Hz) practice produce dose-dependent improvements in rMSSD and DFA α1 across naive vs experienced cohorts? Power calculation: n ≈ 60 per arm for medium effect size.
Ambulatory ECG validation against PPG-derived HRV is the natural co-investigator contribution.
Eye-Scan as a non-contact ANS marker
How well do pupil oscillation amplitude and spontaneous blink rate (extracted via MediaPipe Tasks Vision from the front-facing phone camera) correlate with simultaneously recorded HRV indices and salivary cortisol? Cross-modal validation needed before clinical use.
Looking for partners with parallel pupillometry hardware (Tobii / Eyelink) to anchor camera-derived signal to gold-standard.
Longitudinal BDNF response to 12-week practice protocols
Does sustained engagement with Block 4 (Structural Neuroplasticity) protocols elevate plasma BDNF beyond exercise-only controls? Pre-registered RCT design preferred.
Clinical-research partners with biobank infrastructure for plasma processing and BDNF assays.
DMN dynamics during peak-state induction
Does the Block 5 protocol produce reliable DMN deactivation visible in fMRI? If so, does the deactivation profile differ from established meditation paradigms (focused attention, open monitoring, non-dual)?
Imaging centres with 3T+ fMRI capacity and resting-state-network analysis pipelines.
Interpersonal neural synchronisation in dyadic protocols
Block 2's social-intelligence steps invoke mirror-neuron-system activation. Does dyadic ONDA practice produce measurable hyperscanning EEG/fNIRS phase-locking that exceeds same-room non-practice controls?
Hyperscanning laboratories with dual-EEG or fNIRS rigs.
Burnout-risk prediction from longitudinal Life-Rhythm trajectories
The proprietary Life-Rhythm algorithm fuses HRV + sleep + motion + Eye-Scan + subjective check-ins into a 24-hour personal energy curve. We hypothesise that multi-week trajectory drift predicts clinical burnout markers (Maslach Burnout Inventory, salivary cortisol slope) 14+ days before clinical onset.
Occupational-health partners with longitudinal cohorts of healthcare workers, first-responders, or shift-workers.
What ONDA brings to the collaboration
ONDA is not a research-only platform — it is a shipped consumer product with continuous data flow. Partners gain access to a mature instrumentation stack and a recruited user base, without building anything from scratch.
Multi-channel biosignal capture
Three independent heart-rate ingestion channels (Apple Watch / WCSession, BLE GATT chest-straps and rings, Android notification-listener ingestion from third-party fitness apps). Source arbitration in useVitals.ts picks the highest-fidelity signal automatically.
Touchless ANS measurement (Eye-Scan)
MediaPipe Tasks Vision pipeline extracts pupil oscillation and blink dynamics from the front-facing camera. 30-second protocol returns stress / energy / Life-Rhythm-aligned recommendations. No additional hardware required for participants.
Edge-computed sensor fusion
HR + HRV (rMSSD, SDNN, DFA α1) + sleep (HealthKit / Health Connect) + motion + Eye-Scan ANS markers + subjective check-in fuse client-side into Stress and Energy scores plus a personal Life-Rhythm curve. Raw high-frequency signals never leave the device; only derived metrics are persisted.
Validated audio-guided practice library
Library of 5–30 minute audio practices mapped to Blocks 1–5. Adaptive cueing engine (AdaptivePracticeModal) adjusts pace and depth in real time from client-side HRV computation. Practice-completion telemetry pre-aggregated for between-cohort analysis.
Cross-platform deployment
iOS (Capacitor 7 + Apple Watch WatchKit companion app), Android (WebView + Kotlin Health Connect + BLE + foreground service). Five-language UI (EN, ES, RU, UK, ZH) — cross-cultural cohort design becomes a possibility, not a logistical block.
GDPR-aligned backend
Supabase PostgreSQL with Row-Level Security per auth.uid(). Twenty managed migrations, deterministic schema. delete-account Edge Function performs cascading wipe for participant withdrawal (GDPR Article 17 right-to-erasure).
Three ways to collaborate
We are flexible on collaboration structure — the choice depends on the question, the cohort, and partner institutional requirements. The three frames below cover most cases.
Co-designed pre-registered study
Partner laboratory leads protocol design, IRB / ethics submission, and statistical analysis. ONDA provides instrumentation, recruitment funnel, and engineering support for any custom telemetry. Publication co-authored. ONDA does not gate negative findings — pre-registration includes the analysis plan.
Best for: Established research groups with IRB infrastructure and an existing cohort or recruitment pipeline.
Data-access partnership
ONDA shares pseudonymised, opt-in aggregated telemetry from consenting users (HRV summary metrics, practice-completion patterns, Eye-Scan-derived ANS markers) under a Data Use Agreement. Partner runs analysis independently. Outputs cite ONDA as data source; co-authorship case-by-case.
Best for: Groups doing secondary analysis, methodology papers, or feasibility studies before larger-cohort work.
Joint grant application
ONDA acts as the technology / industry partner on EU Horizon, Eureka / Eurostar, Marie Curie, NIH or national-fund consortia. Partner institution is the academic PI; ONDA contributes platform, technical leadership, and a dedicated work-package on instrumentation and data engineering.
Best for: Established laboratories scoping a 2–5 year programme who need an industry technology partner with shipped product.
Biomarker validation roadmap
The framework's clinical defensibility rests on a small set of biomarker chains. Each chain begins with a passively-collected ONDA signal and ends with an established clinical reference. We are actively scoping work-packages against each chain.
| Chain | ONDA signal | Reference / gold-standard | Block |
|---|---|---|---|
| HRV-1 | rMSSD from Apple Watch / BLE | Polar H10 ambulatory ECG | 1 |
| HRV-2 | DFA α1 from continuous PPG | Holter-derived nonlinear HRV | 1, 3 |
| ANS-1 | Eye-Scan pupil oscillation | Tobii / EyeLink pupillometry | 1, 3 |
| INT-1 | Interoceptive accuracy via in-app heartbeat-counting | Lab-administered Schandry task | 3 |
| HPA-1 | Sleep-rhythm-derived cortisol prediction | Salivary cortisol slope, CAR | 1, 4 |
| PLAS-1 | 12-week practice-adherence telemetry | Plasma BDNF ELISA | 4 |
| EEG-1 | Practice-induced HRV state shifts | Resting-state EEG coherence (PLV, gamma synchrony) | 3, 5 |
| fMRI-1 | Block-5 protocol completion telemetry | DMN deactivation (resting-state fMRI) | 5 |
Data governance, ethics and participant rights
▸ GDPR-aligned by default. The ONDA backend (Supabase, EU region) enforces Row-Level Security per auth.uid(). Participants exercise right-to-access, right-to-rectification and right-to-erasure through the in-app account-management flow. The delete-account Edge Function performs cascading wipe across user_profiles, practice_rewards, user_progress and the auth record.
▸ Edge-computed sensor fusion. Raw high-frequency biosignals (HR samples, HRV beat intervals, Eye-Scan video frames) are processed client-side and discarded. Only derived scores (Stress, Energy, Life-Rhythm, practice-completion telemetry) are persisted to the backend. The Eye-Scan video stream never leaves the device.
▸ Opt-in research data sharing. Any participation in a research study is gated by an explicit, study-specific consent screen presented inside the app. Consent is revocable at any time; revocation triggers immediate withdrawal of subsequent data from the partner's data feed.
▸ IRB / ethics-board responsibility. ONDA does not act as an IRB. Studies designed under Collaboration Model A (co-designed pre-registered) require ethics approval from the partner institution's review board before any study-specific data flow begins.
▸ Negative-result publishing. All pre-registered studies are published regardless of outcome — including negative results. ONDA does not gate manuscripts on commercial impact.
Who you will work with
Yakiv Bilenko — founder, product and technical lead. Authored the 24-Step framework, owns the engineering of the multi-channel HR pipeline, the Eye-Scan computer-vision module and the Life-Rhythm fusion algorithm. LinkedIn
Clinical advisory board and partner-laboratory PIs are being announced as Model A and Model C collaborations are formalised. Open spots remain for advisors in psychophysiology, clinical neuroscience, neuroendocrinology and biomedical signal processing — see contact below.
Framework backbone — selected citations
The framework is grounded in published neurophysiology. The short list below cites the canonical works for each block; the full bibliography is provided to partners under DUA.
- Block 1 — Autonomic. Thayer JF & Lane RD (2009). Claustrophobic to integrative: heart rate variability and the neurovisceral integration model. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 33(2), 81–88.
- Block 1 — Resonance breathing. Lehrer PM & Gevirtz R (2014). Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? Front Psychol, 5, 756.
- Block 2 — Executive networks. Menon V (2011). Large-scale brain networks and psychopathology: a unifying triple network model. Trends Cogn Sci, 15(10), 483–506.
- Block 3 — Interoception. Garfinkel SN, Seth AK, Barrett AB, Suzuki K, Critchley HD (2015). Knowing your own heart: distinguishing interoceptive accuracy from interoceptive awareness. Biol Psychol, 104, 65–74.
- Block 3 — Default Mode Network. Raichle ME (2015). The brain's default mode network. Annu Rev Neurosci, 38, 433–447.
- Block 4 — Allostasis & BDNF. McEwen BS (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: central role of the brain. Physiol Rev, 87(3), 873–904.
- Block 5 — Flow / hypofrontality. Dietrich A (2004). Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the experience of flow. Conscious Cogn, 13(4), 746–761.
- Block 5 — Brain entropy. Carhart-Harris RL et al. (2014). The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs. Front Hum Neurosci, 8, 20.
- Eye-Scan / pupillometry. Joshi S, Li Y, Kalwani RM, Gold JI (2016). Relationships between pupil diameter and neuronal activity in the locus coeruleus, colliculi, and cingulate cortex. Neuron, 89(1), 221–234.
Start a conversation
Send a short note describing your laboratory's focus area, the question you want to investigate, and the collaboration model that fits your institutional setup. We respond within five working days.
For grant-application work-packages (Model C), please attach the call reference, deadline and the work-package you want ONDA to lead.
Engineering & clinical-research deck — Technical Architecture, Product Ecosystem and the 24-Step Neuro-Physiological Framework. Reviewers and prospective partners should consult this document before initial contact.
ONDA Life · 2026 · Mapping the path from autonomic stability to high-density neural coherence