A version of this fitness tracker on your wrist could someday be used to transmit real time health data to your physician. For 10,000 people taking part in an innovative new study, that future has already been becoming fact. Verily Life Sciences, a healthcare company launched by Google, is partnering with researchers at Duke University School of Medicine and Stanford Medicine at Stanford University on Project Baseline. The project is a large-scale longitudinal observational study that will analyze data gathered from a large number of participants using wearable health trackers and other assessment tools. Included in these are sleep-monitoring detectors and self-reported information posted via an online portal and a mobile app.
Each participant will receive a Study Watch created by Verily that will monitor and transmit individual electrocardiogram, heart rate, electrodermal activity, and movement data to the company’s cloud-based machines. The info will be encrypted to safeguard personal privacy. Separately, Project Baseline researchers will gather genomic, mental health, physical health, and genealogy information through blood tests, surveys, and in-person interviews. “Previously, these were all studied in an exceedingly segmented way,” Dr. Adrian Hernandez, professor of medicine at Duke University, and a principal investigator on Project Baseline, told Healthline.
The goal is to develop a “picture of total health” for every study participant, said Hernandez. That, subsequently, may be used to create a baseline for defining good health. Among the standard assessment tools for cardiovascular risk is the 6-Minute Walk Test, which measures center and lung function structured on how much an individual can walk in a short period of your time. “What we would actually like to know is how patients are doing every hour or day or week,” said Hernandez. “What we now have is an extremely reactive healthcare system.
What we want to reach is a proactive system, where we can anticipate problems on and nip them in the bud early. Project Baseline happens to be recruiting study participants who will wear the Study Watch out for four years, and reap the benefits of having their health monitored on an ongoing basis. be reporting leads to the participants “We’ll, ” as well as for the scholarly study, noted Hernandez. Health monitoring devices for individuals not enrolled in research studies have grown to be increasingly sophisticated.
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For example, the QardioCore monitor straps to the upper body and delivers continuous ECG, heart rate, heartrate variability, respiratory system rate, skin temperature, and activity data to doctors. It can also be synced to Quardio’s free mobile app or the Apple Health app. Technology aside, it will still be up to individuals to heed their doctor’s advice based on the data received.
“Giving certain technologies to people won’t lead to behavior change. Behavior change only takes place if proper training supports the use of disruptive systems,” observed Mesko. “But in general, the true potential of such studies is based on the essence of using … devices to obtain private data about health behavior and lifestyle change.