Fitness Wearables Makers Look to Apply Technology for Consumer-Based Diagnostics

Could the Fitbit, smartwatch and other wearable devices be a key to resolving the current COVID-19 testing and other diagnostic challenges? Momentum for applying wearables health and wellness measuring technology for purposes of widespread, consumer-based diagnostics has been building rapidly even before the pandemic, as is the scientific evidence to support the validity of the concept. Were it to succeed, the approach of wedding consumer wearables to COVID-19 detection and differentiation could go a long way in resolving the current rapid testing challenge.

Wearables and COVID-19 Diagnosis

The idea of using Fitbit and other wearable devices for diagnostic purposes is nothing new. And a new study by Scripps Research Translational Institute published in Nature suggests that such information may include whether we have COVID-19. Conducted by researchers from the Digital Engagement and Tracking for Early Control and Treatment (DETECT), the Nature study is one of the first to consider wearables for COVID-19 diagnosis. The researchers’ aim was to investigate whether the addition of individual changes in sensor data to symptom data can be used to improve our capability to identify COVID-19-positive versus COVID-19-negative cases among participants who self-reported symptoms.

The Fitbit Study

Wearable makers have also been active in exploring the diagnostic potentials of their products. Before the pandemic, San Francisco-based Fitbit applied its own tracking health and wellness metrics technology to develop an algorithm to detect breathing rate, resting heart rate and other factors. The original intention was to alert users to signs of flu infection. But when the public health crisis began, Fitbit pivoted and adapted the concept for COVID-19.

The algorithm was studied only in a retrospective setting, and there was a need for a prospective study to validate it in a real-world setting. Accordingly, Fitbit recently announced that it is collaborating with Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research on a study to validate the Fitbit COVID-19 early detection algorithm. The Fitbit study is supported by a $2.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Defense through the medical technology enterprise consortium. The award is part of the consortium’s efforts to keep military personnel healthy by detecting the virus before symptoms emerge.

Several thousand frontline and custodial Northwell staffers are expected to participate in the study. Once the study is initiated, enrolled Northwell employees will be given a Fitbit smartwatch. Upon notification of signs of potential illness, they will be given COVID-19 tests for verification.

Here’s a summary of other key strategic diagnostic deals announced in November 2020:

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES, PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS

DISTRIBUTION, SALES & MARKETING AGREEMENTS

LICENSES

SUPPLY, SERVICE & TESTING AGREEMENTS