Fitbit has launched an in-app study the company says could help develop an algorithm for detecting potential COVID-19 cases prior to symptom onset.
Device owners over the age of 21 who live in the U.S. or Canada who either had a confirmed case of COVID-19 or recently experienced symptoms consistent with the disease are invited to take part in what the company has dubbed the Fitbit COVID-19 study...
SWISS ARMY TESTS TRACING APP
A COVID-19 contact tracing app is being trialed by 100 soldiers at the Chamblon army base near Lausanne, Switzerland. The Bluetooth-enabled app logs if users have spent more than 15 minutes within two metres of another user. Then, when one uploads a positive test result for COVID-19, the system and alerts users to the contact. In order to test its efficacy, the...
Fitbit announced this morning the launch of a new atrial fibrillation research study aiming to enroll hundreds of thousands of fitness-tracker and smartwatch owners.
Called the Fitbit Heart Study, it will passively and continuously monitor wearers' heart rates using the devices' photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors. A proprietary algorithm will interpret these readings and flag potential...
Fitness and sleep-tracking smart-ring-maker Motiv has been acquired by Proxy, a company specializing in digital-identity security. The companies announced the purchase in accompanying blog posts, and did not share the terms of the deal.
Proxy CEO Denis Mars wrote that his company has hired "a majority" of Motiv's employees, and will be shifting the focus of Motiv's consumer platform away from...
Belgium-based FibriCheck, the maker of apps that monitor a user's heart rhythm, announced yesterday that it has developed a new version of its smartwatch offering that is capable of scanning for atrial fibrillation while the wearer is asleep.
FibriCheck said in a release that the updated app is currently nearing the end of user testing, and that it will be available for smartwatch manufacturers...
Fitbit has announced the latest member of its fitness tracker lineup, the Fitbit Charge 4, alongside new fitness-minded features and new content for Fitbit Premium.
The new device's standout feature is onboard GPS to enable features like an exercise heat map, which helps users review where in a running or biking route they were working the hardest.
It returns with the Sp02 sensor of its...
Two medical research organizations have kicked off new efforts this week that seek to use consumer-health wearables to identify or event predict the onset of disease.
The first is the DETECT (Digital Engagement & Tracking for Early Control & Treatment) Study, headed by the Scripps Research Translational Institute. It combines heart-rate, activity and sleep data collected through a range...
Oura, maker of a health-monitoring smart ring for consumers, has raised $28 million in a new Series B funding round, CEO Harpreet Singh Rai announced today in a medium.com post.
Forerunner Ventures, Square and Google's Gradient Ventures participated in the raise. The first two groups will be rewarded with spots on Oura's board of directors, while Gradient Ventures Founder and Managing Partner...
Element Science, a San Francisco startup developing a wearable personal defibrillator, brought in $145.6 million in Series C funding earlier this month. Led by Deerfield Healthcare and Qiming Venture Partners USA, the raise also included new backers Cormorant Asset Management and Invus Opportunities, as well as prior supporters Third Rock Ventures and Google Ventures.
WHAT THEY DO
Headed by CEO,...
The accuracy of wearables employing photoplethysmography (PPG)-based heart rate sensors may vary significantly between specific devices and activity types, but these sensors’ performances do not appear to be significantly affected by the skin tone of the wearer, according to a new study published in NPJ Digital Medicine.
The investigation, conducted by Duke University researchers among 53...
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