Smartwatches might have seemed like novelty gadgets at their launch. After all, do we really need to get notifications on our wrist? However, it turns out that over the years and with various tech improvements, smartwatches are quickly becoming invaluable tools for those who are looking for health tracking.
In fact, a recent study has found that smartwatches can actually be used to predict blood test results. The study was undertaken by Duke University and Stanford University in which they found that through the use of machine learning, wearables like our smartwatches can be used to flag certain types of conditions based on our heart rate, daily activity, and body temperature.
The idea behind the study was to find whether or not the long-term data collected from smartwatches could hold data that could potentially be indicators of the results from blood tests. Based on the results and observations of 54 patients over the period of three years, they found that smartwatches could indeed help predict certain issues like dehydration, anemia, and more.
However, the researchers do acknowledge certain limitations as the data collected isn’t usually specific enough to predict things like red or white blood cells, or diagnose what type of illness a person could have, but it’s an interesting study anyway. It also does seem to be in line with a study not too long ago which suggested that smartwatches might actually be capable of detecting COVID-19.
Filed in . Read more about Health, Smartwatch and Wearable Tech. Source: gizmodo