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Apple believes an iPhone could detect depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline, using a number of digital clues. The health data used would include physical activity and sleep patterns.
For privacy protection, Apple aims to ensure that all diagnostic work is done on the device, without any data being sent to its servers.
The WSJ reports.
Apple Inc. is working on technology to help diagnose depression and cognitive decline, targeting tools that could extend the reach of its burgeoning healthcare portfolio, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. […]
Data that can be used include analysis of participants’ facial expressions, the way they speak, the pace and frequency of their walks, sleep patterns, and heart and respiratory rates. They can also measure the speed of their typing, the frequency of their typos, and the content of what they type, among other data points, according to people familiar with the research and documents. […]
The efforts stem from research partnerships that Apple announced with the University of California at Los Angeles, which studies stress, anxiety, and depression, and the pharmaceutical company Biogen, which studies mild cognitive impairment. “Seabreeze” is Apple’s code name for the UCLA project and “Pi” is the code name for the Biogen project, according to People and Documents […]
The extent of user tracking that may be required could give rise to privacy concerns. To address this, Apple is targeting algorithms that work on users’ devices and do not send data to Apple servers, according to the documents.
Mild cognitive impairment can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
The UCLA study will track data from 3,000 volunteers starting this year, while the Biogen study aims to recruit around 20,000 people to participate over the next two years, about half of whom will have risk factors. cognitive impairment.
The play emphasizes that this work is still in its infancy and that it may come to nothing. While things like depression are known to lead to different patterns of smartphone use, the challenge is to create algorithms that are reliable enough to accurately diagnose specific conditions.
However, Apple executives are said to be optimistic.
While the effort is still in its early stages, Apple’s top executives are excited about the possibility. COO Jeff Williams, who oversees Apple’s health unit, spoke enthusiastically to employees about the company’s potential to tackle rising rates of depression and anxiety and other disorders. cerebral, according to people who have heard of the efforts.
Photo: Arif Riyanto / Unsplash
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