New trials show how Apple Watch can detect COVID-19 before symptoms and tests

A couple of recent studies highlighted in the CBS news article show that intelligent reloaders like the Apple Watch can help diagnose COVID-19 prior to the onset of symptoms or a positive examination.

The studies separately conducted in New York and Stanford University in California by Mount Sinai Health System provide experts with the expectation that Apple Watch will “help play an essential part in curing the pandemic and other transmissible diseases.”

Analysis carried out by Mount Sinai found that, up to seven days before the beginning of the COVID-19 symptoms or positive examination, the Apple Watch is capable of detecting “subtle changes in individual heartburn.”

The study investigated cardiovascular variability or time differences between heartbeats and included almost 300 medical staff who wore Apple Watches from April 29 to September 29.

The study explains that this is a general indicator of how well the immune system of an individual functions.

“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.

“We already knew that heart rate variability markers change as inflammation develops in the body, and Covid is an incredibly inflammatory event,” Hirten told CBS MoneyWatch. “It allows us to predict that people are infected before they know it.”

“Right now, we rely on people saying they’re sick and not feeling well, but wearing an Apple Watch doesn’t require any active user input and can identify people who might be asymptomatic. It’s a way to better control infectious diseases,” Hirten said.

A separate research from Stanford, published in November, included Garmin, Fitbit and Apple activity trackers. In the report, variations in the rest of the heart rate “up to nine days and a half before the onset of symptoms” could be observed in patients suffering from coronavirus positive.

The study indicates that almost two-thirds of cases of COVID-19 have been detected four to seven days prior to symptoms.

The team also has created an alarm system that alerts wearers that their heart rate has been elevated for a sustained period of time.

“We set the alarm with a certain sensitivity so it will go off every two months or so,” said Stanford University Professor Michael Snyder, who led the study. “Regular fluctuations won’t trigger the alarm — only significant, sustained changes will.”

“It’s a big deal because it’s alerting people not to go out and meet people,” he added. When Snyder’s alarm recently went off, for instance, he cancelled an in-person meeting in case he might be infectious.

Snyder clarified that this kind of technology would help to fix research techniques’ shortcomings.

The problem is that, while these machines measure you 24/7, you cannot [test] people all the time. Unlike those who have commissioned similar research, such as Oura Health and Whoop, Apple did not support or take part in any of these studies.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a model showing how Apple Watch and other intelligent watch models can help to minimise asymptomatic carriers’ spread of COVID-19.