Apple Watch can detect Covid-19 a week in advance, study finds

At the start of the pandemic, dozens of researchers launched studies to try to see if wearable devices of all kinds could potentially identify covid-19 before the onset of symptoms. In one such study, researchers from Mount Sinai found that the Apple Watch was able to detect the onset of covid-19 up to seven days ahead of current testing methods.

The to study, which was published in the Internet medical research journal, studied the impact of covid-19 on several hundred healthcare workers in the Mount Sinai healthcare system between April and September of last year. All of the participants wore an Apple Watch and responded to daily symptom surveys through an app. The researchers then observed changes in participants’ heart rate variability (HRV), which measures changes in heart rate and is an indicator of your autonomic nervous system.

The interesting takeaway from this particular study is that, first of all, subtle changes in a person’s HRV helped researchers identify and predict whether that person might be infected or have symptoms of covid- 19 one week before being tested via a nasal swab. This is big, because covid-19 can be contagious before symptoms show. The one-week heads-up has been one of the longest time frames we’ve seen reported so far. Another piece of information was that the HRV patterns returned to normal 7-14 days after diagnosis, to the point where they were not statistically different from uninfected participants.

“This technology allows us not only to track and predict health outcomes, but also to respond in a timely and remote manner, which is essential during a pandemic that forces people to stay apart,” the co-worker said. -author of the study Zahi Fayad, PhD. in one Press release.

This supports the idea that wearable devices could be a useful tool for triage testing, as well as potentially identifying illnesses at pre-symptomatic stages. Several other researchers have also identified HRV as a potential measure to detect infections, while others have also indicated that respiratory rate and body temperature are also potential signifiers. And while studies are currently being conducted with Apple Watch, Fitbits, and Garmin devices, among others, the cellphone that has received the most attention when it comes to covid-19 remains the Oura Ring. The Oura ring was the wearable of choice for the NBA in its reopening efforts, and some promising preliminary research found it could detect covid-19 up to three days before symptoms appear with 90% accuracy. That said, it’s worth remembering that no matter what headlines you read, none of the aforementioned portable devices are capable of officially diagnosing covid-19. Plus, just because this study focused on the Apple Watch doesn’t mean that other wearable devices wouldn’t necessarily be able to do the same.

It’s also been about a year since many of these studies were launched, and we’ll likely see more results released in the weeks and months to come. However, regardless of the results, consumers may not see the “early disease detection” features on their personal clothing during. this pandemic. This would require some degree of clearance from the FDA, which is usually a slow process. Even so, it is also possible that these findings may help doctors better manage future flu outbreaks or even monitor patients remotely.