No wearable device, whether it’s a smartwatch, fitness tracker, or smart ring, is currently capable of diagnosing covid-19. That’s it, full stop.
The makers of Oura Ring, a sleep- and activity-tracking ring, in April announced they were teaming up with researchers at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) for a national study “designed to accelerate early detection of the covid-19 virus symptoms.” The company also partnered with the University of California San Francisco to see how the ring might be helpful for early detection.
The RNI said it has created a digital platform that can detect symptoms related to covid-19 up to three days before they actually appear with a 90 percent accuracy rate. The platform is a combination of an app developed by RNI, the Oura Ring, and artificial intelligence models. It tracks a variety of data points, including “body temperature, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, sleep and activity patterns, and ‘readiness’—a health metric combining long-term sleep and activity trends with short-term behaviors,” RNI said. It also required study participants to self-report their stress, anxiety, memory, and “other human resilience and recovery functions.”
More at Fitness Trackers Still Can’t Diagnose Coronavirus, but a New Study Shows Potential
No wearable device, whether it’s a smartwatch, fitness tracker, or smart ring, is currently capable of diagnosing covid-19. That’s it, full stop.