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Wrist-worn health trackers 'could spot Covid-19 before symptoms appear'

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorJane Kirby PA
Published date22 June 2022
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
This comes cases jump by 30 per cent in Scotland as two sub-variants of the Omicron strain is expected to be circulating around the country

Free testing ended earlier this year with the exception of those working in the health care system but 15,000 people in Scotland are now thought to have the virus.

READ MORE- The cheapest Edinburgh petrol prices as average cost of fuel hits 189.33p per litre

The trackers in question monitor changes in skin temperature, heart and breathing rates. It could also be combined with artificial intelligence (AI) to offer a diagnosis, according to a new study.

A team writing in the journal BMJ Open tested the AVA bracelet, a fertility tracker that people can buy online to track the best time to conceive as it monitors breathing rate, heart rate, heart rate variability, wrist skin temperature and blood flow.

In the study, 1,163 people under the age of 51 in Lichtenstein were studied from the start of the pandemic. They wore the AVA bracelet at night with the device saving data every 10 seconds, and they had to sleep for at least four hours for it to work.

The bracelets were synchronised with a smartphone app, with people recording any activities that could affect the results, such as alcohol, prescription medications and recreational drugs.

Interestingly, it also recorded possible Covid-19 symptoms such as fever.

All those in the study took regular rapid antibody tests for Covid while those with symptoms also took a PCR swab test.

Overall, 1.5 million hours of physiological data were recorded and Covid was confirmed in 127 people, of which 66 (52 per cent) had worn their device for at least 29 consecutive days and were included in the analysis. It found there were significant changes in the body during the incubation period for the infection, the period before symptoms appeared, when symptoms appeared and during recovery...

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