Smartwatches can detect symptoms of COVID-19 before the wearer knows they are infected

A team of researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has found evidence to suggest that smartwatches can detect symptoms of COVID-19 before a person realizes they are infected. On their website, the Mount Sinai team describes testing 297 healthcare workers by examining data from their Apple watches.

One of the first signs of a COVID-19 infection is inflammation of infected areas of the body. And when the inflammation begins, the body responds by slightly altering blood flow. This change in blood flow can be seen in slight changes in a person’s heart rate, detectable through smartwatches like Apple’s. By noting a person’s heart rate over long periods of time, a smartwatch can determine a normal baseline for the wearer. And when a sudden and prolonged change occurs, such as sustained heart rate variability, the device can detect it as well. During the test at Mount Sinai, volunteers were asked to wear the smartwatch full-time and install a watch app that specifically looked for lasting changes in their heart rate. The researchers found that the watches were able to identify two-thirds of those infected an average of seven days before volunteers noticed symptoms.

CBS News recently looked at the findings of the Mount Sinai team and those of another Stanford University study, as well as other companies looking at whether their smartwatches might work the same way. They found that for the most part the answer was yes, very often smartwatches can detect a COVID-19 infection up to a week before symptoms appear. They further noted that engineers can create apps for smartwatches to alert the user, who could then self-quarantine until tested. And that, they further note, could very well slow the spread of the current pandemic and those that may arise in the future.

© Science X Network 2021