Researchers see high-tech wearables as early warning system for coronavirus

Washington- Can Fitbit or Apple Watch detect a coronavirus infection before the symptoms begin?

Researchers are increasingly looking at these devices and other wearables as a possible early warning system for deadly viruses.

Last month, scientists at the Rockefeller Institute of Neuroscience at the University of West Virginia created a digital platform that could detect COVID-19 symptoms for up to three days before being displayed using our wearable fitness and activity tracker Oura Ring. I said.

According to the university, an app developed by researchers uses artificial intelligence to predict the onset of COVID-19-related symptoms such as fever, cough, dyspnea, and fatigue with 90% accuracy or better.

The researchers say the system can provide clues to infections in people who have not yet shown symptoms, helping to address one of the problems in detecting and containing a deadly outbreak.

Separately, the Scripps Labs registered more than 30,000 people in a similar study using wearables to find COVID-19 “presymptomatic” and asymptomatic people. I will.

Scripps researchers have already demonstrated the value of wearables in predicting influenza in a study published in January in The Lancet, a British magazine.

Early signs suggest that the device “may identify people who are presymptomatic but infectious,” says Jennifer Laden, Scripps epidemiologist who leads the study. Said.

Laden said in an online meeting he discussed a study that wearables detected “subtle changes that indicate they have a viral disease” before the onset of symptoms.

Scripps researchers say they want to show that wearable data is more reliable than temperature checking.

“40% of people infected with COVID have no fever,” said Radin. “It can be used to screen people who are better than a temperature check.”

Resting heart rate, for example, is a good indicator because it usually stays constant before infection and can be measured accurately in most wearables.

“We see these changes (changes in heart rate) four days before someone starts getting a fever,” said Radin.

Eric Topol, director of Scripps Labs, says the idea of ​​using wearables holds promise. “Over 100 million Americans have smart watches or fitness bands that can provide important data to researchers,” but to get good results, numbers to participate in the survey.

Meanwhile, California medical technology startup Evidation launches a project to create an early warning algorithm from a wearable worn by 300 people at high risk of coronavirus funding, funded by the US government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Did.

Luca Foschini, co-founder and chief data scientist at Evidation, said the goal of the study was to “more effectively identify when and where people might be contracting for COVID-19 and expand its potential spread.” It may allow real-time interventions to limit and monitor results.”

Similar research is under way in Germany.

Recent research highlights how wearable devices, originally developed for fitness and recreation, can adapt to important medical research.

Apple has begun research into how its smartwatch can detect heart problems. In addition, Fitbit has been working on about 500 different projects to study health issues such as cancer, diabetes, and respiratory problems.

Scientists say wearables can provide data on body temperature, heart rate and breathing rate, sleep and activity patterns, and other indicators that can be used as diagnostic tools.

In April, researchers at Stanford University announced plans to join a study on wearables in collaboration with Scripps on COVID-19 and other diseases.

“Smartwatches and other wearables make a lot of measurements per day, at least 250,000, which makes such a powerful surveillance device,” said Michael Snyder, Dean of Genetics at Stanford School of Medicine. Says.

According to Snyder, these devices can alert users when there is a heart rate, skin temperature, or other part of the physiological signal of an infection or other illness.

“You may think,” Are these olfactory allergies or illnesses?” These algorithms help people determine if they stay home if their body is fighting an infection,” Snyder said.