electroCore, Inc. announced that its TAC-STIM non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation ("nVNS") Human Performance product, has been selected to be a part of the Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL) Real-Time Assessing and Augmenting Cognitive Performance in Extreme Environments (A2PEX) Grant Program. A2PEX is a five-year project led by the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) that includes internationally-recognized leaders in wearable technologies from industry and academia. The goal of A2PEX is to build a wearable system to sense, assess and augment cognitive performance in operational environments.

Sensors developed by A2PEX partners will develop electrophysiological and biomarker sensors to assess Airmen stress/fatigue in extreme environments. electroCore's proprietary TAC-STIM nVNS has been commissioned by IHMC for integration into the A2PEX system to mitigate fatigue and augment performance. TAC-STIM is a form of nVNS for human performance and has been developed in collaboration with the United States Department of Defense Biotech Optimized for Operational Solutions and tactics, or "BOOST" program and AFRL.

The Air Force has identified the need to develop novel materials and wearable devices to assess and augment Airman cognitive performance in aerospace environments such as multi-day transoceanic operational and logistic flights as well as long duration remotely piloted aircraft missions. Fatigue resulting from these extreme stressors can evolve into chronic health problems, and cause decrements in judgement and vigilance resulting in severe aviation mishaps. A 2020 National Commission on Military Aviation Safety report concluded that the more than 6,000 military aviation accidents that killed 224 pilots or aircrew were largely a result of chronic fatigue.