The Efficacy and Potential of Medical Sensors in Tech Wearables

Written by Taylor Le and edited by Alexander Alva

Photo by Pixabay

Wearable sensors have become increasingly popular in both the tech and the medical market. Not only can they be found and implemented into accessories such as watches, wristbands, smart glasses, clothing, belts, or being directly attached to the skin, but they can also provide clinically relevant data for the diagnosis, treatment, or monitoring of health conditions or workplace safety. This article explores the efficacy and potential of medical sensors in tech wearables and discusses their future developments and applications.

Ongoing research aims at studying the efficacy and reliability of such medical sensors in tech wearables and where their future is ultimately headed. Recent studies have shown that wearable sensors can provide a continuous daily stream of accurate personal health data that researchers can access and monitor [5]. When combined with standard laboratory blood tests, such information could detect early signs of infectious diseases simply through changes in data streams like heart rate [2].

One popular tech wearable is the Apple Watch, which has a multitude of applications and sensors, such as an ECG app, blood oxygen level detectors, and electrical/optical heart rate sensors. It can monitor multiple aspects of human wellness, including human mobility, activity, medications, heart health, and more. Alongside the Apple Watch stands a variety of other portable tech wearables with similar functions, but their full and clinical relevancy has not been thoroughly studied.

Wearable technologies have the potential to revolutionize the evaluation of health behaviors. However, their implementation in clinical settings remains a significant challenge. To address this issue, two of the National Institutes of Health’s Big Data to Knowledge Centers of Excellence organized a workshop aimed at exploring the potential clinical applications of wearables. A workgroup consisting of 14 stakeholders from various backgrounds was assembled to discuss two successful digital health interventions that utilized wearables. The goal was to identify common features that contributed to their success. The workgroup identified seven key features that included a clearly defined problem, integration into a healthcare delivery system, technology support, personalized experience, emphasis on end-user experience, alignment with reimbursement models, and inclusion of clinician champions [4].

Another study found that wearable sensors can provide continuous, objective, and longitudinal data in both clinical and real-world settings, which can aid in the diagnosis and management of chronic diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy [1].

The future of medical sensors in tech wearables holds great promise, with the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning enabling the creation of more precise and personalized health monitoring systems. While their clinical implementation remains a challenge, these technologies have the potential to reform healthcare by transforming the way we diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions.

Works Cited

1. Johansson, D., Malmgren, K., & Alt Murphy, M. (2018). Wearable sensors for clinical applications in epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke: A mixed-methods systematic review. Journal of Neurology, 265(8), 1740–1752. 
2. Mishra, T., Wang, M., Metwally, A. A., Bogu, G. K., Brooks, A. W., Bahmani, A., Alavi, A., Celli, A., Higgs, E., Dagan-Rosenfeld, O., Fay, B., Kirkpatrick, S., Kellogg, R., Gibson, M., Wang, T., Hunting, E. M., Mamic, P., Ganz, A. B., Rolnik, B., … Snyder, M. P. (2020). Pre-symptomatic detection of COVID-19 from smartwatch data. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 4(12), 1208–1220. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-020-00640-6
3. Reflex Wearable Verified to Reduce Injury Frequency by 50-60%; Lost Work Days by 72% – Kinetic. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2023, from https://kinetic-insurance.com/reflex-wearable-verified-to-reduce-injury-frequency-by-50-60-lost-work-days-by-72/
4. Smuck, M., Odonkor, C. A., Wilt, J. K., Schmidt, N., & Swiernik, M. A. (2021). The emerging clinical role of wearables: Factors for successful implementation in healthcare. NPJ Digital Medicine, 4, 45. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-021-00418-3
5. Vijayan, V., Connolly, J. P., Condell, J., McKelvey, N., & Gardiner, P. (2021). Review of Wearable Devices and Data Collection Considerations for Connected Health. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 21(16), 5589. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165589