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Study Shows Wearable Sensors Can Tell When You Are Getting Sick (phys.org)
skids quotes a report from Phys.Org: Wearable sensors that monitor heart rate, activity, skin temperature and other variables can reveal a lot about what is going on inside a person, including the onset of infection, inflammation and even insulin resistance, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Altogether, the team collected nearly 2 billion measurements from 60 people, including continuous data from each participant's wearable biosensor devices and periodic data from laboratory tests of their blood chemistry, gene expression and other measures. Participants wore between one and eight commercially available activity monitors and other monitors that collected more than 250,000 measurements a day. The team collected data on weight; heart rate; oxygen in the blood; skin temperature; activity, including sleep, steps, walking, biking and running; calories expended; acceleration; and even exposure to gamma rays and X-rays. "We want to study people at an individual level," said Michael Snyder, PhD, professor and chair of genetics. "We have more sensors on our cars than we have on human beings," said Snyder. In the future, he said, he expects the situation will be reversed and people will have more sensors than cars do.
Slashdot reader skids adds: "IT security being in the state it is, will we face the same decision about our actual lives that we already face about our social lives/identities: either risk very real hazards of misuse of your personal data, or get left behind?
Slashdot reader skids adds: "IT security being in the state it is, will we face the same decision about our actual lives that we already face about our social lives/identities: either risk very real hazards of misuse of your personal data, or get left behind?
Do you wanna your boss to know when you are sick???
This is an interesting summary. And I do think that an intelligent and wider use of sensors will eventually become the killer app for wearables, because everyone wants to be healthy.
I did specifically mention the Apple Watch, because it is known that the company has hired people with PHDs on various non-invasive sensors like blood oxygen, but also and importantly, blood sugar, and more. I looked up this tech, and it seems it is not ready for prime time, you'd want it to work out of the box and for everyone no matter what kind of skin you have (not only race, but also how dry). And then there is the challenge of passing regulations, because anything more than a heartbeat sensor requires certification. These certifications take a long time, and in the case of Apple, they wouldn't want to wait 3-5 years to release an Apple Watch with updated sensors, hence if my intuition is right they could be working on sensors in a bracelet which can be certified separately, and which could communicate with the watch using the little port near the lugs.
Anyway, whatever brand will release a comprehensive health monitoring wearable at a good price may well have a product hit on its hands on the level of an iPhone. Hence the interest of Apple and others in this domain. I find this category of health monitoring devices very interesting since they could truly improve life quality in various ways, detecting disease earlier, tracking diets, etc That is progress to me.
Of course this being slashdot, many will point out the risk on privacy leaks - like imagine an insurance company gtting hold of your wearable stats. Yes, proper data privacy will be a crucial element in the design of these devices.
These are interesting times, I think we will see such an upgraded smartwatch (perhaps by Apple, perhaps a clever startup) in the next 5 years, and I think it will be huge.
If I get sick, I know it myself. Don't need no App nor sensor, got enough sensors and Apps builtin!
Everyone may want to be healthy, but everyone may
- not want anyone else knowing about how healthy you are or are not
- not want the data uploaded into 'the cloud'
- not even want to know what they are doing is unhealthy
Here be Dragons.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
do you want your GOP care plan to find out?
Die-er quicklier!
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Yes, I do want my boss to know when I'm sick. I'm curious what you're getting at.
I let my boss know when I'm sick because a) I might not come in to the office, or might not get work done, b) I don't want to pass the ilness to my boss by them spending much time in my office, looking at a screen together (with our faces side-by-side), etc. and c) if they notice I seem a little off, sluggish, or even anti-social, they'll know why.
Are you suggesting that you lie to your boss and take sick time when you're not sick? If that's what you're talking about, I have a policy of not lying, so that's not an issue for me. (Of course I screw up from time to time, but since anything I do, I do to extremes, my *policy* is to never start lying or stealing, lest I soon lie and steal to extremes.)
Everyone may want to be healthy, but everyone may
- not want anyone else knowing about how healthy you are or are not - not want the data uploaded into 'the cloud' - not even want to know what they are doing is unhealthy
Here be Dragons.
As a diagnostic tool when visiting the doctor? Sure. But as a full time wearable - that's insane. And all of this needs massive HIPPA restraint.
Can you imagine the ads we would be served? "Hello there value customer! We see your Temperature has gone up slightly and your heart rate is elevated" This would be a good time to try some Halls Mentho-Lyptus cough drops, or Alka Seltzer plus. We'll just dispatch na Amazon drone to your house, and you'll be well on your way to feelgood town in short order.
Or the Lawyers...... "Attention, we see you have a stent installed, and many of these have failed. You could be eligible for a substantial cash reward. We've pre-dialed Suckram and Kcam agency, pick up your phone, and be on the way to resolving this great problem."
And not all bad - "Good evening Mr Olsoc - it appears your wife has finished ovulating, so time for some fun tonight! We think you would simply love some of our KY flavored lovin' gel's, Shall we ship some proto while everyone is getting in the mood?" Now in bacon flavor!
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
An idiot with a lot of data, that is. I'm not saying sensors can't help us, but for the general public (that is, non-medical cases), I'd expect these to be as useful as the sleep-ware that tells you if you had good sleep last night. Most people, if getting sick or having slept poorly, will know it already. You could use the same argument for heartbeat sensors when exercising - it's cool and all, but for the layman it's pretty pointless.
The danger here of course, if being such an integrated part of everyday life, is that people start trusting the numbers more than common sense. However, as long as you need to actively do something or have something in order for it to work, I would guess it'll most likely just be a fad.
From scanning the paper briefly is that those are people who would be really thrilled if they had actually discovered something useful and they hope this can lead to important new work, presumably with them being asked to follow up on it. It's almost like a marketing piece. "It is possible that the use of wearables will lead to false alarms and overdiagnosis of disease. The number of false alarms will depend upon the threshold that is set, which can be personalized." It doesn't say how it could be personalized, which sounds critical for a claim like that. "Overall, we envision that these devices could be particularly powerful for individuals who are responsible for the health of others (i.e., parents and caregivers), and perhaps also for those who have historically limited health care access, including groups with low income and/or remote geography." We didn't really check with these people, but we're sure it could work for them, and them, and also them!
I hope I'm wrong, and that someone more knowledgeable here can confirm this was good research. Because if not, it would be downright irresponsible to suggest burdening people with sensors for an outcome that could be not just not useful but possibly harmful. That would fall under "academic prostitution". Again I'm hoping this is just my ignorance and laziness to read the article carefully.
"misuse of your personal data" - Well, that's not going to happen. No insurance company will want to now your approved sensor data score before calculating your fees, copays and deductibles and they won't ever give penalties for not wearing your sensors. No lending company will want to know your score before financing your car, house, etc. and calculating your rates. No company will want to know your score before hiring you for the long or short term or estimating work capability or endurance. No airline will want to know your score to calculate how high a risk you are and calculate your ticket price or extra insurance fees. Nobody will do this, all will be well, and all this will only benefit you all. Nobody will be left behind, there'll just be some who'll never get there.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
I can tell I'm getting sick without sensors, generally.
And it's a fuckton cheaper.
-Styopa
> Maybe I should write a novel :)
Funny, that's *exactly* what I thought after I read your other post and the first few words of this one. "This guy should write dystopian science fiction." You're good at choosing the right words to make utter fiction sound almost real.
> Being slightly sick, will cause you staying home, for a long period of time.... which result of you being fired, for no reason of course.
And if I did *not* tell them I'm sick they wouldn't notice that I stayed home for a few weeks?
Also I'm confused, you said "staying home, for a long period of time.... which result of you being fired, for no reason of course." Is this a new form of English or did you say the reason the person had to be replaced was because they stayed home for a long period of time? Maybe you have a job where you don't actually do anything useful, so it doesn't matter if you stay home for a long period of time?
We already have all these sensors built in. No need to add them on the outside. The problem is the operator either isn't aware of the messages or tells itself lies to create a different explanation.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
In the Continuum tv show, this device existed, called the Halo.
Will this infringe on our privacy?
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"We have more sensors on our cars than we have on human beings," said Snyder.
I'm pretty sure I have more sensors in my little finger than there are in any car.
What kind of statement is that? Of course we do. And how does he propose to power all of these sensors? Silly person.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein
I looked into getting a vitals monitoring device, but decided against it because I couldn't find any that were incapable of sending data elsewhere. I value my personal information highly, and my vital signs are included.
I think there's only a matter of years before HMOs require some customers to wear such a device, though, or make the premium exceedingly high for those who refuse.
Your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
We have two - are you interested in the get off my lawn version, or the big tinfoil hat one?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Perhaps they should call it H+. You know, Health plus...