How Wearables Biomarkers Can Improve Patient Outcomes
The wearables industry is growing quickly with new innovations and advancements. These devices can provide doctors and healthcare specialists with precise data that can improve patient outcomes.
Fitness trackers can be worn on the wrist or waist and monitor physical activity, heart rate, sleep patterns, and more. This information can be used to identify underlying health conditions.
Blood glucose
With advances in data fusion, sensing and networking, wearable technology can detect biomarkers in the body such as heart rate, blood oxygen level, GPS location, elevation, changes in direction of movement and other parameters. Sensors embedded in smart clothes, eyeglasses, shoes and gloves allow consumers to experience unobtrusive sensing.
These devices are being marketed to the general population for fitness and health monitoring as well as elite athletes as training tools. However, their validity and reliability are limited under dynamic conditions, such as during high-intensity exercises.
To address this issue, scientists are developing epidermal electronics that mimic the skin’s surface. This technology can monitor other physiological and psychological metrics such as brain activity (EEG), visual flicker frequency to entrain the user to their peak alpha rhythm, or skin temperature to track sweating. It can also detect biomarkers such as blood glucose and heart rate. These sensors can be incorporated into smart watches and other wearables that offer convenience to consumers.
Sleep patterns
Sleep cycles are a critical part of the overall night’s rest. Ideally, you should go through four to six sleep cycles. This ensures you’re cycling through all the different stages of sleep, which serve a variety of functions.
During stage 3 non-REM sleep, the body and muscles relax. This deep sleep is the hardest to awaken from and is necessary for physical recovery and bolstering the immune system. Additionally, this stage is essential for memory consolidation.
During the fourth and final stage of sleep, REM (or rapid eye movement) sleep, the brain’s activity revs up and looks almost like you are awake on a brain scan. This is the dreaming phase, which can also be associated with jerky muscle twitches and penile/clitoral tumescence.
Blood pressure
Wearable technology can track a variety of health indicators, including blood pressure. These devices use sensors placed on different parts of the body to detect abnormalities. They can also measure other physiological and psychological parameters. For example, they can monitor heart rate and detect sleep patterns. They can also identify stress triggers and provide users with healthy lifestyle recommendations.
But the accuracy of these wearables is still questionable. In addition, many mHealth devices aren’t TGA-cleared to make medical claims. Cohen has seen patients present to the ED solely because of elevated readings from a blood pressure-monitoring device bought overseas or that doesn’t have the type of labeling required by the TGA.
A company called Aktiia has developed a sensor that can be worn on the wrist or finger and reads beat-to-beat blood pressure. It uses optical sensors to check if the vessels are tightening or loosening, and it can calculate systolic and diastolic pressure. The device can even alert the user and their doctor of concerns about fluctuations in blood pressure.
Heart rate
A wearable with a built-in heart sensor can detect arrhythmias to prevent sudden cardiac death. Element Science’s app-connected wearable defibrillator analyzes patients’ cardiovascular features and delivers an electrical shock when it identifies potentially fatal arrhythmias. A study by Augusta University Medical Center showed that this device reduced patient deterioration into preventable cardiac or respiratory arrest by 89%.
In addition to heart rate, other digital biomarkers tracked by wearable technology include blood glucose levels, activity level and sleep patterns. Smartwatches and smartphones track these metrics and can alert a healthcare professional to any irregularities.
Other devices can track changes in gait, speech and muscle movement to detect nervous system illnesses like Parkinson’s disease. In addition, sensors and digital biomarkers are used in sports to track player performance data. These wearables can be embedded in players’ jerseys, incorporated into sports equipment or built into fitness trackers and wrist worn watches. They work restlessly catching every change in the body, sending real-time information to coaches for analysis.
OnePhenix is the only IPAAS software that connects your wearable data to your healthcare professionals. www.Onephenix.com.au