Smartwatches are being used to detect changes in resting heart rate indicating wearers are in the early, pre-symptomatic stages of COVID-19.
CBS:
Devices like the Apple Watch, Garmin and Fitbit watches can predict whether an individual is positive for COVID-19 even before they are symptomatic or the virus is detectable by tests, according to studies from leading medical and academic institutions, including Mount Sinai Health System in New York and Stanford University in California. Experts say wearable technology could play a vital role in stemming the pandemic and other communicable diseases.
"Our goal was to use tools to identify infections at time of infection or before people knew they were sick," said Rob Hirten, assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and author of the Warrior Watch study.
Specifically, the study analyzed a metric called heart rate variability — the variation in time between each heartbeat — which is also a measure of how well a person's immune system is working.
I am a slave to my Apple Watch.
