According to a study by the American Duke University of North Carolina, several health data measured by the Apple Watch Series 3 would have made it possible to predict by AI the manifestation of pain attacks caused by the most widespread genetic disease in the world.
Artificial intelligence is not only used to generate student essays or artificial images, it can also help medicine. According to a study by Duke University of North Carolina (USA), health data from the Apple Watch analyzed by AI could have predicted the onset of a symptom of a genetic disease even before it does not manifest itself.
Published on Tuesday, March 14 on the website of the United States National Library of Medicine and spotted by the specialized site MyHealthyApplethis study demonstrates that the use of Apple connected watches on patients with dementiarepanocytosis (the most common genetic disease) can help treat their pain attacks before they become too serious.
Prevent crises to treat as soon as possible
As the news site tells MacRumors, the seven researchers of the study recruited 20 adult patients affected by this disease between July and September 2021 in order to take care of them in the day hospital of Duke University. Each individual received an Apple Watch Series 3 which, worn on the wrist for just over two hours, collected a total of more than 15,000 heart rate, heart rate variability and calorie data.
By crossing them with the pain scoresand the vital signs measured by hospital equipment, the researchers were able to create a machine learning algorithm. It is this artificial intelligence which was then able to alert the doctors when a crisis vasoocclusive disease (caused by a stoppage of blood flow) was about to occur, allowing them to give patients painkillers before it got worse. An effective prediction up to “84.5%according to the study.
An inexpensive and non-invasive solution
According to the researchers, quoted byMyHealthyApplethis new use of the sensors of the Apple Watch allows a new approach “inexpensive that could benefit clinicians and people with sickle cell disease», affecting more than 4 million people worldwide. What is more, by a tool judged “non invasivefor patients, compared to traditional medical probes.
Making its connected watches a useful tool for medicine was also one of Apple’s objectives in 2016, before the release of the Apple Watch Series 3. But recent events could call their use into question. in the medical field: several generations of Apple Watch are threatened with being banned from sale in the United States for infringement of a patent… on one of the medical data sensors.
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