Wearables

The wearables or digital health group is an emerging one in the Lab where we are very keen on developing digital biomarkers of diseases especially those that we can identify and develop using off-the-shelf consumer electronics such as smart wrist watches like the Apple Watch or Xiaomi’s Mi Band. The group has developed a local data set for a small local (normal) cohort, that brings together vitals, self-reported parameters and various other parameters from a digital watch for a period of 30 days that we presented at ISMB 2022. The group is now keen on deploying these tools with collaborators in the maternal health space.

What are digital biomarkers?

Biomarkers refer to biological molecules in our body whose concentration levels can be great indicators or predictors of diseases conditions. For example, we often look after our sugar or cholesterol levels in our blood as they are great indicators of diabetic conditions or cardiovascular diseases, respectively. With the advent of smart gadgets like watches which can track numerous indicators of our body functions, scientists can now use digital metrics to predict diseases. For example, most smartwatches can alert you to a ‘poor cardio’ health if it predicts patterns in the number of steps you take daily and your average heart rate. This is one example of a digital biomarker of disease.