Smartwatches including Apple Watch may be able to detect Covid-19 signals before you know you’re sick, a recent study found.
In a study entitled “Warrior Watch”, researchers at the Mount Sinai medical center found that the Apple Watch is able to detect small changes in the user’s heartbeat, which may indicate that he contracted Covid-19 up to seven days before developing visible symptoms .
Specifically, the study looked at a metric called heart rate variability (HRV) – the variation in time between each heartbeat – which is also a measure of how well a person’s immune system is functioning. Participants used Apple Watches equipped with special applications that measure changes in their HRV.
“We already knew that heart rate variability markers change as inflammation develops in the body, and Covid is an incredibly inflammatory event,” said Dr. Robert Hirten, assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York and author of the study. . CBS. “This allows us to predict that people are infected before they know it.”
A similar study conducted by Stanford University found that 81% of Covid-19 positive participants using a variety of smartwatches – from Apple, Fitbit, Garmin and others – were informed of an HRV irregularity up to nine days before the start of the main symptoms.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of managing the global pandemic has been the identification of individuals who have contracted Covid-19, but remain asymptomatic, meaning that they have no symptoms but are still contagious (and therefore inadvertently transmit the virus).
Studies like these have revealed that seemingly common consumer technology can play a big role in the future management of the pandemic, allowing people to easily identify the first signs of invisible symptoms.
“Developing a way to identify people who may be sick before they even know they are infected would really be a step forward in the management of Covid-19,” said Dr. Hirten. “This technology allows us to not only track and predict health outcomes, but also to intervene in a timely and remote manner, which is essential during a pandemic that requires people to be separated.”
Custom Covid-19 wearable
A company called NeuTigers is even developing a custom wearable dedicated to early detection of Covid-19.
Recognizing that symptoms can be detected by the consumer’s humble smartwatch, the company used research from Princeton University to develop an artificial intelligence product called CovidDeep, which can help inform those in clinical settings and care homes about the risk of transmission.
Called the Empatica E4, the wearable patient monitor takes a variety of regular skin, heart rate and blood pressure readings for the sole purpose of detecting Covid-19 symptoms early. Patient data is then transferred to the CovidDeep system, which detects the virus at a rate of 90% – which is more accurate than your typical store entry temperature screening.
It is not yet known when these research developments will reach the hands (or wrists) of the general public, but companies are working quickly to bring their findings to market. NeuTigers, for example, has committed to producing an internal application that could work with Apple, Fitbit, Samsung and many other smartwatch brands.
Could this mark a major step in the global fight against Covid-19? With vaccines starting to be distributed worldwide, the next priority should be early identification of the infection. Soon, your smartwatch may become more than a boring reminder to get you started.
By CBS News