2017.01.16

A Watch That Tells You When You’re Getting Sick

New technology worn on the body can help medical professionals determine if someone is becoming ill or if a disease is developing.

Soon your doctor may be able to tell what’s wrong with you before you make an appointment.

Wearable biosensors could make this possible.

Biosensors monitor vital signs that reveal much about what is going on inside the body. Serious problems that are detectable include the onset of infection, inflammation, and insulin resistance.

A team of researchers from Stanford University revealed these discoveries in a study published today in PLOS Biology.

Michael Snyder, Ph.D., professor and chair of genetics at Stanford, is the senior author of the study, along with lead postdoctoral co-authors Xiao Li, Ph.D., and Jessilyn Dunn, Ph.D., and software engineer Denis Salins.

Snyder and his colleagues began their ongoing study in 2014 with 60 subjects ranging in ages from 28 to 72, divided equally by gender. Snyder is one of his own study participants and wears seven sensors.

“We wear various types of smart watch monitors 24 hours a day,” Snyder told Healthline. “Some people have been wearing these devices for up to two-and-a-half years now.”

 

http://science.gov.az/news/open/4873