Research Shows Apple Watch May Detect Coronavirus

New research shows that Apple Watch may be able to detect if wearers have coronavirus days before they are diagnosed or symptoms appear.

According to the latest research carried out by a number of leading medical institutions, devices like Apple Watch or Fitbit devices can predict Covid-19 infection even before a user becomes symptomatic or the virus is detectable by standard tests.

A new study by medical researchers at Mount Sinai Health System in New York found that the Apple Watch can detect subtle changes in a user’s heart rhythm up to seven days before coronavirus infection can be detected through testing.

The Mount Sinai study analyzed the variation in time between heartbeats, a metric known as heart rate variability. Researchers say it’s a good measure of how a person’s immune system is working.

The team of researchers has developed an alarm system that alerted users if their heart rate has been elevated for a prolonged period of time, detecting coronavirus in patients.

“We already knew that heart rate variability markers change as inflammation develops in the body, and covid is an incredibly inflammatory event. It allows us to predict that people are infected before they know it,” said Rob Hirten, the author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

When it comes to covid-19, individuals infected with the disease experience lower heart rate variability compared to a normal heart rate of healthy individuals.

The study followed 300 health workers at Mount Sinai who wore Apple Watches for five months.

The research, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, found that 81% of those who tested positive for coronavirus experienced changes in their resting heart rates.

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This could alert people to observe social distance and avoid social interaction since they could be infectious.

All of this research could help medical professionals and the public to curb coronavirus infections since the majority of cases are spread by asymptomatic people.