"Built for the future."...nah! future is already here

From annals of biomedical breakthroughs at Stanford University:

This year I was fortunate to participate in two significant mobile health milestones. Here is the first (Jan 2017):

Eminent scientist, and Chair of Genetics, Prof Mike Snyder's team published a PLOS Biology paper,  that recorded and analyzed over 250,000 daily measurements for up to 43 individuals, and found personalized differences in physiological parameters. After evaluating more than 400 wearables, the team members used seven that were inexpensive and easy to use.

Mike Snyder compared the information from the sensors with seeing the “check engine” light in your car. “You might hear some knocks” in the engine beforehand, tipping you off to a potential problem, but “it’s nice to see a little light when something’s not right”.

It was tour de force study that explored the limits of possibilities. Correctly so, it caught the media frenzy and got mentioned anywhere and everywhere. For more information, visit: https://med.stanford.edu/gbsc/wearable-biosensors.html

The year ended, with another big bang event (Dec 2017):

The Apple Heart Study, a collaboration between Apple and Stanford (and partnership with American Well and BioTelemetry), uses data from Apple Watch to identify irregular heart rhythms, including those from potentially serious heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation. This study utilizes a lot more standardized framework, compared to the previous one, for data capture with a highly specific observable - an easier problem to solve in many ways and a much harder in some.

Atrial fibrillation (also called AFib or AF) is a quivering or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. According to the American Heart Association, if you have AFib, you’re five times more likely to have a stroke than someone who doesn’t. If your heart beats too fast, it may even lead to heart failure. AFib can cause blood to clot in your heart. Blood clots can travel in the bloodstream, eventually causing a blockage (ischemia). For more information on the study, please visit: https://med.stanford.edu/appleheartstudy.html

In course of an year, it is indeed exciting to participate in two highly diverse studies - one that finds deviation from normal vs another that finds specific markers in the wearable sensor data. It is even more exciting to be part of an ecosystem that looks for meaningful application of technologies towards betterment of human health.