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Duke researchers using smart watches to detect early signs of COVID-19 infection

Duke researchers are recruiting participants in a study aimed at detecting the earliest signs of COVID-19 infection in different communities. The goal of their study is to help reduce the spread of infection in future outbreaks.

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By
Rick Armstrong
, WRAL photojournalist
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University researchers are recruiting participants in a study aimed at detecting the earliest signs of COVID-19 infection in different communities. The goal of their study is to help reduce the spread of infection in future outbreaks.

The Duke study is focused on data collection from wearable biometric devices — like a smart watch — or smartphones owned by study participants.

Jessilyn Dunn, Duke assistant professor and biomedical engineer, said the study is trying to learn what signals the body may give ahead of a COVID-19 infection.

"The hope would be, in the future, that we could change our platform to be able to send people indicators of illness," said Dunn.

She said early warnings might help limit the spread of infection. If people are aware of their viral status, she believes they will be more willing to isolate themselves from others.

Duke graduate student Kiersten Hasenour is one of the participants already on board with the effort.

"They sent me a Garmin [smart watch] that I have been wearing since then that tracks blood oxygen levels, heart rate, all sorts of stuff," she said. "The only other thing I do is I get an e-mail everyday with a short survey."

Information is stored on Duke’s protected network with all personal identifiers removed.

Dunn said anyone in the world can take part if they are 18 years or older.

"We have people coming from as far as Europe and Asia participating in the study," she said.

However, the challenge is to get enough significant data collection from participants.

"We have quite a lot of data on people who never got COVID-19," Dunn said. "At the same time, the number of people who actually have gotten COVID-19 is much smaller."

There are different ways to join.

Dunn said, "If somebody already owns a smart watch and they had COVID-19 exposure, that’s sort of the easiest way to participate. They can take a one time survey, link up their device and that gives us the data that we really need."

Results of the study should help Duke researchers build a COVID-19 detection method. That detection method, however, would require that participants are wearing a watch or other recommended devices when they are first exposed to the virus.

Dunn thinks about how this strategy might have been used two years ago.

"We would have had a lot of tools to prevent what we’ve seen happen," she said. "What we know is this is not the last novel virus and so we want to be prepared for the next time around."

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