Stanford Medicine‘s Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab (SHIL) is enrolling volunteers for its first feature investigation: the COVID-19 Wearables Study. The purpose of the study is to determine whether data from wearables such as Apple Watch and Fitbit can identify COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. If the study finds that the data from wearables is effective in identifying disease, researchers hope to predict disease onset before symptoms appear. This could lead to earlier and more effective treatments.
In the initial part of the COVID-19 Wearables Study, SHIL researchers are seeking participants who fall into one of the following categories:
- Have had a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19
- Have been exposed to somebody who has known or suspected COVID-19
- Are at higher risk of exposure (such as healthcare workers or grocery store workers)
According to SHIL, the team intends to expand the study in the near future to include subjects who do not fall into one of the three categories above.
The Stanford researchers cannot provide wearables to participants in the study, so participants must provide their own. The FAQ for the study defines the required devices as ” a smartphone and a wearable such as Apple Watch, Fitbit, Empatica, Garmin, Oura Ring, or most other wearable devices that measure heart rate.”
Study participants will be asked to wear their device continuously every day for up to 24 hours a day and up to 24 months. Participants will also download the MYPHD app. The app will link to your device and collect data. You will also fill out a daily symptom survey either online or with the MYPHD app.
If the SHIL research team finds valid and reliable evidence that wearables can predict infectious diseases accurately, early intervention and treatment could reduce the severity of symptoms, improve patient outcomes, and reduce the spread of highly contagious infections. If you’re interested in participating in this important study, here’s the link to enroll.
In addition to volunteer participants in the COVID-19 Wearables Study, SHIL also seeks developers, data scientists, and designers willing to work remotely to help scale the PHD platform. You can contact the team to participate at this email address.
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