Predicting COVID-19 Even Before Swab Test Now Possible Thanks to Apple Watch

By Joshua Summers First Posted: Feb 10, 2021 11:25 PM EST

(Photo : Justin Sullivan)
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, speaks during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park on September 12, 2018 in Cupertino, California.

Apple offers various gadgets that satisfy its consumers and fan, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the apple watch. The watch apple released became a favorite because it partners with the phone, and you can monitor your fitness activity with it.

But what makes it timely and almost essential might be the theory that the device can predict if an individual is COVID-19 positive even weeks before he or she get the swab test.

Researchers from Mount Sinai investigated in a study that the wearable hardware can help mitigate the pandemic that has stayed globally for a long time now.

According to Gotta Be Mobile, the apple watch can help you with your health-related concerns because it can monitor your water consumption, monitor your heart rate, track your fitness, and even monitor your safe hearing levels. But the new feature that Mount Sinai researchers discover is a medical breakthrough that can help ease the COVID-19 pandemic.

Study Methodology and results

Tech Crunch reports that the study entitled Warrior Watch Study utilized the apple watch and iPhone app, which they required their participants to use, including their staff, to monitor their health and collection of data, along with a survey that the participants will fill out daily in providing direct feedback regarding the potential COVID-19 symptoms.

The researchers' focus is the heart rate variability (HRV), which according to the researchers, is an indicator of strain on a person's nervous system.

The data is combined with the information or the reported manifestations related to COVID-19, such as fever, gastrointestinal issues, loss of taste and smell, dry cough, aches, and other related symptoms.

In a press release by Mount Sinai, corresponding author and assistant professor of medicine from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Robert P. Hirten, MD, shares that the watch showed significant changes in HRV metrics up to seven days before the individuals have their swab tests to confirm if they contracted the virus.

They are favorable for the notorious disease. He adds that it also showed significant changes at the time of symptom development.

In addition, the Warrior Watch Study also reveals that the participant's HRV patterns normalized reasonably quickly after their diagnosis and returning to normal roughly one to two weeks following their positive tests.

Implications

Dr. Hirten exclaims in the Mount Sinai release that developing a novel avenue in identifying people who might contract the virus even before confirming it is a medical breakthrough in managing COVID-19. Co-author Zahi Fayad, Ph.D., notes that this technology will allow them to track and predict health outcomes and intervene in a timely and remote manner, which is vital, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the help of the apple watch, an easy way to predict COVID-19 cases will soon be available for the doctors to utilize, and we can't wait till the moment that we will not need these devices to feature because of SARS-CoV-2.

WATCH: How digital health devices can predict virus outbreaks from Scripps Research