Apple Watch is more than just a smartwatch, it’s a health monitoring device. Now, Apple has launched a study to investigate the effectiveness of the Apple Watch in detecting COVID-19 symptoms. Previously, the company announced the study in September 2020 at the Time Flies event but has officially launched it now. In partnership with the University of Washington and the Seattle Flu Study, the smartwatch will be used to detect respiratory illnesses like asthma and coronavirus.
Currently, Apple’s smartwatch models enable users to track and monitor their heart rate, blood oxygen level, sleep patterns, menstruation cycle, activity circles, and other health-related conditions.
Using Apple Research app, the Apple Watch study to detect early signs of respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 flu
The goal of the study is to catch early signs of respiratory diseases and the sample of research from the Seattle area because locals “may have higher than normal risk of respiratory illness because of frequent exposure to other people through work or other activities, health conditions, or other factors.”
The goal of the study is to see if the information collected by the Apple Watch and iPhone can detect early signs of respiratory illnesses like COVID-19. If you are eligible and decide to participate, you will be provided an Apple Watch to wear. The watch will collect information about your health and activity. You will also be asked to answer simple survey questions in the Apple Research app on your iPhone about respiratory symptoms and lifestyle on a weekly and monthly basis.
If you get sick during the study, you will be provided with a free, at-home nasal swab to be tested for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, and you will be asked to take some additional health measurements using your Apple Watch.
Participants will be asked to wear their Apple Watch day and night and log in their symptoms in the Apple Research app for six months. And if participants fall ill during the study, Apple will send them a COVID-19 testing kit and the participants will have to answer additional questions.
Previously, researchers at Mount Sinai discovered that smartwatches like Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit can detect the COVID-19 days before the symptoms are visible. A researcher said that “we already knew that heart rate variability markers change as inflammation develops in the body, and Covid is an incredibly inflammatory event. It allows us to predict that people are infected before they know it.”
Interested Apple Watch owners can participate in the study via the Apple Research app which can be downloaded from the App Store for free.
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