In the early days of the pandemic, dozens of researchers launched studies to see if carriers of all kinds could do so. potentially identify covid-19 before symptoms began. In one such investigation, researchers from Mount Sinai discovered that the Apple Watch could detect the onset of covid-19 up to seven days before current testing methods.
The study, which in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, studied the impact of covid-19 on hundreds of health workers at Mount Sinai Health System between April and September last year. All participants wore an Apple Watch and answered daily surveys about symptoms via an app. The researchers then observed changes in the participants’ heart rate variation (HRV), which measures the changes in heart rate and is an indication of your autonomic nervous system.
The interesting takeaway from this particular study is that subtle changes in a person’s HRV have helped researchers identify and predict whether the person may be infected with or have symptoms of covid-19 a week before they ever have a nose swab has been tested. This is great as covid-19 can be contagious before any symptoms manifest. A week’s head up is so far one of the longest lead times we’ve seen. Another great thing was that HRV patterns returned to normal 7-14 days after diagnosis, to the point where it did not statistically differ from participants who were not infected.
“This technology not only enables us to 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 stay apart,” he said. author of the study, Zahi Fayad, PhD, said. in a Press release.
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This is in line with the idea that portable instruments can be a useful tool for testing, as well as identifying diseases in pre-symptomatic stages. Several other researchers have also identified HRV as a potential measure for the detection of infections, while others also indicate respiratory rate and body temperature as potential signifiers. And although studies are currently underway with, among others, the Apple Watch, Fitbits and Garmin devices, the portable material that has received the most pressure with regard to covid-19 remains the Oura Call. The Oura Ring was the portable choice for the NBA in its reopening efforts, and some promising preliminary research found that it could detect covid-19 up to three days before symptoms appeared with 90% accuracy. However, it is recalled that the headlines you read, none of the above portable articles are capable of officially diagnosing Covid-19. Just because this study focused on the Apple Watch, does not necessarily mean that other portable items can not do the same.
It’s also been about a year since many of these studies were launched, and we’ll probably publish a few more findings in the coming weeks and months. Whatever findings come to light, it is possible that consumers may not see ‘early disease detection’ during their personal clothing this pandemic. This requires some FDA approval, which is usually a slow process. However, it is also possible that these findings may help physicians to better manage future flu outbreaks or even monitor patients remotely.