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ZDNET's key takeaways
- Earflo is a medical device that relieves middle ear pressure.
- Using Earflo led nearly 90% of kids in a study to avoid surgery.
- Earflo is awaiting FDA clearance. It's expected to go on sale in Q1.
Ear infections are a common issue for young children that, when chronic, can lead to ear tube surgery. About 700,000 children in the US need this surgery each year. But a new product called Earflo could potentially help up to 90% of these kids avoid the surgery altogether, according to early studies.
Earflo is a medical device designed to look and work like a sippy cup for kids as young as two. When you sip from the cup, a small mask forms a seal on your nose, and with each swallow, air flows through the nose. The pressure on the nasal cavity helps open the eustachian tubes in the ear, releasing trapped fluid. It was a finalist for the Best of CES award for parent tech.
Also: CES 2026 recap: 7 biggest news stories across TVs, laptops, and other weird gadgets you missed
In an early peer-reviewed study of 21 children aged one to 12 using Earflo for four weeks, 86% of children showed significant hearing improvement, with the average improvement in hearing being 10 decibels — essentially doubling their perceived sound intensity, Dr. Matthew Oldakowski, co-founder of Earflo, told me at CES. Nearly 90% of the participants did not need surgery at all three months later.
Oldakowski has been working on the Earflo since 2018, when he was a fellow at Stanford Biodesign. He saw a disconnect between parents worried about their child's hearing and discomfort, and the clinicians, whose only solution was surgery after a certain point.
“What we really saw was there was such a need for a noninvasive solution to the most common pediatric problem,” Oldakowski said. “If you're in a situation where you know your child has the condition, and your alternative is surgery, the Earflo is an option you can go for.”
The device comes with a game-based app that keeps kids motivated to drink. You don't really feel the airflow, so it's not disruptive to drinking from the cup, said Oldakowski.
Earflo is going through the FDA clearance process right now and is slated to go on sale in February. The price is expected to be set between $250 and $300.
