Fitbit Wants To See If Its Wearables Can Detect COVID-19

A couple of weeks ago, Fitbit launched a study in which they wanted to see if their wearables were capable of detecting irregular heart beats. Now it looks like the company wants to see if its wearables might actually be capable of doing more than that, such as being able to detect early on if the wearer might have the flu or even COVID-19.

According to the company, “Wearables, like Fitbit trackers and smartwatches, are currently being used in research studies from partners like the Scripps Research Translational Institute and the Stanford Medicine Healthcare Innovation Lab to see if wearable data can help detect the early onset of infectious diseases, like the flu and COVID-19, even before symptoms start.”

It is unclear how they might be able to do that since testing for COVID-19 requires a physical swab of the patient’s nose canal, but perhaps there could be data that could suggest that the user is sick and could be display symptoms (that can be gathered from a wearable) that could be related to the virus.

Fitbit is definitely not alone in this because back in March, an app called Cardiogram launched for the Apple Watch where it also attempts to try and detect if the wearer has the flu, and whether or not it could be a sign of a COVID-19 infection.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets, Medical
Tags: Coronavirus, covid-19, fitbit, Health, Wearable Tech