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Credit: Michaela Kane, Duke University
DURHAM, N.C. -- Smartwatches and other wearable devices may be used to sense illness, dehydration and even changes to the red blood cell count, according to biomedical engineers and genomics researchers at Duke University and the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The researchers say that, with the help of machine learning, wearable device data on heart rate, body temperature and daily activities may be used to predict health measurements that are typically observed during a clinical blood test. The study appears in
Nature Medicine on May 24, 2021.
During a doctor's office visit, a medical worker usually measures a patient's vital signs, including their height, weight, temperature and blood pressure. Although this information is filed away in a person's long-term health record, it isn't usually used to create a diagnosis. Instead, physicians will order a clinical lab, which tests a patient's urine or blood, to gather specific biological information to help guide health decisions.