What’s in store for the future of wearables?
ZDNet’s Jason Perlow and Jason Cipriani sit down and talk about how new sensors and new levels of precision will usher in a new age of predictive medicine.
In early January of 2018, I bought a used Apple Watch Series 2. It was a frivolous purchase that was made in the name of research, to acquaint myself with the entire wearables phenomenon that so many of my friends had already been experiencing.
Mobile ECG itself is about to improve in accuracy and the fidelity of data collection with the release of the AliveCor Kardia 6L. AliveCor pioneered mobile ECG, with the first single-lead mobile device that was Bluetooth pairable to a smartphone, and also with the first single-lead ECG band for Apple Watch.
The Kardia 6L has three electrodes rather than two used on their previous product (and the Apple Watch), so it can record six leads of data rather than one. This is roughly half of the precision of a clinical ECG, which has twelve leads.
With additional leads, many more conditions other than Afib can be diagnosed. AliveCor can already detect conditions with their advanced machine learning algorithms that the Apple Watch cannot, such as Long QT Syndrome and Hyperkalemia. Potentially with six leads, it would be possible to get early warning signs of a heart attack. And unlike Apple, AliveCor has partnerships with clinical practitioners so that they can monitor their patients’ ECG data in the cloud.
Could we see a 6-lead ECG on a future Apple Watch? Possibly. But many other sensors are potentially useful which would improve our lives as well.
Recently I have been testing the Beddr SleepTuner, a small Bluetooth-connected sensor that adheres to the forehead. The product uses an optical sensor and accelerometer to measure resting blood oxygen levels, stopped breathing events, heart rate, sleep position, and time in bed. The data it collects and displays on its smartphone app helps you to determine if you are getting a good night’s sleep.
Beddr’s SleepTuner is not necessarily a replacement for a full-blown sleep study at this time. However, if you have already been diagnosed with sleep apnea, the product is effective for confirming that your CPAP therapy is working correctly — such as a properly fitted mask and a good sleeping position and pillow use/head positioning.
And if you aren’t a CPAP user, it could end up telling you that maybe you should look into having a sleep study done if your results aren’t good. But I have already used it in conjunction with the diagnostics I get from my CPAP to determine that not only was the type of mask I was using insufficient for maintaining good airway pressure but also I had to find a better pillow because my head was not at a good angle as well.
Once I corrected those issues, I got a result of “Good” from Beddr versus the “Poor” I started out with.
Is this Star Trek sleep sensor technology? I’m not sure, but considering that the real Captain Kirk has obstructive sleep apnea, maybe he should look into getting one himself.
What about something like blood sugar levels? Well, the Apple Watch can’t currently do this, but there are multiple products on the market that are essentially smartwatches with continuous glucose monitoring, such as the PK Vitality K’Track.
I’m not currently a diabetic, but I was a Type 2 when I was morbidly obese. I’d sure like to know if after a night of crappy eating that perhaps I had better throttle things back a bit. And ultimately (but hopefully not) down the road, I’d like to know if I need to revisit the idea of taking statins and other medications to control blood sugar.
Another possible sensor addition could be Galvanic Skin Response or GSR. This technology allows the electrical conductivity of the skin, which is tied to moisture changes, to be measured. When combined with heart rate and ECG, a better profile of a wearer’s emotional state can be measured, such as when one is experiencing anxiety.
For people suffering from anxiety and other conditions such as PTSD, it could permit applications to be written using biofeedback mechanisms. It could also add additional functionality to mindfulness meditation (such as with apps like Headspace for practicing controlled breathing).
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