Shortly after the covid-19 pandemic closed the world last year, many manufacturers and researchers of portable studies announced to see if their technology could possibly detect the virus before it spread. Ava, a portable fertility detection company, has a particularly ambitious study in which 2,000 Liechtenstein citizens carried the company’s trackers to see if the device could record covid symptoms before it appeared. Now, Ava has announced that the company is launching another study to see if its tracker can presumably detect covid-19 in real time. But with the vaccine now more widely available and an end to the closures in sight, what does the continuation of this kind of research really mean?
One of the biggest problems with covid-19 detection is the fact that someone can spread the virus before they even realize they are sick. Portable devices, capable of collecting data 24/7 over a long period of time, seemed to like a natural platform for researchers who want to learn more about covid-19 and can stop its spread. Ava’s first collaboration with Liechtenstein researchers found that an algorithm could accurately detect 70% of covid-19 positive infections up to seven days before symptoms appear.
It’s cool, but this ability is not unique to Ava. The West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) preliminary research released a few months ago that it could detect covid-19 symptoms up to three days before it appeared with an accuracy rate of 90%. (The sample size was very small.) Whoop also has a peer-reviewed paper and said that its recovery detection can be used to detect covid-19 infections based on decrease in the breathing rate of users during sleep. Hell, even Fitbit is it do his own study. The thing is, most of these studies have tried to see if early detection is possible. There is a gap between ‘this thing can work’ and ‘it will be used in real life.’
What makes Ava’s new study remarkable is the fact that he takes the algorithm he built and tests how effective it is in realtime and in the real world. It is basically the next step to get this kind of predictive technology out of the lab and on the wrists of consumers.
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For the new study, Ava plans to provide a tracker to more than 20,000 participants of all genders in general and high-risk populations. They will then carry the Ava tracker up to nine months at night while they sleep, and may see a health indicator formed by AI in the morning: ‘no change’, ‘minor changes, so stay home and isolate’, and ‘changes covid-19 can indicate. Asymptomatic participants will also receive a diagnostic test if the app identifies them as possibly ill.
Another interesting thing is that the company trained the algorithm on data from nearly 500 women who became infected in the app because Ava is a fertility tracker. Those data were then copied to non-female subjects. This is important because for the vast majority of medical history, it was the other way around.
“Although historical medical research is based on data and research using male participants who are then generalized to women, we browse the text at Ava – we first understand the physiology of women, and then adapt algorithms to the general population. generalized “, Leaa Bidder, co-founder and CEO said in a statement.
Although this is ultimately an effective trial, the study will only end in November. By that time, most people should have had a vaccine against covid-19. Unfortunately, this is one case where rigorous clinical trials are sometimes not fast enough to deal with current events, even if there is regulatory assistance that speeds up the process.
Take the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA issued an emergency authorization (EUA) early on to help rapid clearance of technology that could help combat covid-19. This does not mean that accelerated technology will magically find its way to the market. The FDA lasted until March 19 grant approval to the Tiger Tech COVID Plus monitor. The device itself is a non-diagnostic screening tool worn on the arm, which uses light sensors to look at ‘biomarkers’. Hypercoagulation – or easier blood clotting than normal – has been identified as a common disorder in cases of covid-19. The device itself is intended to be used in conjunction with temperature surveys, as a backup method, to limit distribution in public institutions such as hospitals, schools, offices, theme parks, stadiums and airports. This technology would be ideal for reopening, but it is also not at all clear how the Tiger Tech device will be used in the next few months. You may never see one, despite the FDA clearing the device for the market.
Ultimately, these efforts are worthwhile, if this pandemic is not, then the next flu outbreak or whatever infectious virus decides to wreak havoc. It is quite possible that the lessons learned from covid-19 can be easily applied to other infectious diseases. One can only hope.