Lyme Disease Update: Wearable Sensors Could Help Diagnose The Bacterial Infection [STUDY]

A new study has found that activity trackers and other wearable sensors will be able to detect when a person is getting sick. The new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that wearables that track heart rate, skin temperature, and other metrics could be able to determine when the body is fighting infection, inflammation and even insulin resistance.

The study was conducted 60 study participants wearing a suite of biosensors and involved almost 2 billion measurements. The researchers collected the participant's periodic biological data from blood tests, their genetic expression and other measures. "I was very impressed with all the data that was collected," professor of genomics at the Scripps Research Institute, Eric Topol, MD says.

The researchers discovered that by developing a baseline of normal measurements for a participant and watching it closely from the norms through the wearable sensors, the algorithms designed to pick up when the continuous stream of biological data diverges from regular patterns could help medical diagnoses and research, New Atlas.

However, the new technique is better demonstrated by the experience that Michael Snyder - Stanford professor and geneticist had he was part of the study. He was wearing sensors on a long international flight to Norway, but he discovered after the flight, that his heart rate and blood oxygen levels did not return to normal. He immediately suspected that something was wrong. He later developed fever and other symptoms indicative of an illness.

Because he had spent two weeks in a part of western Massachusetts popularly known for ticks that carry Lyme disease, he persuaded his physician to prescribe him an antibiotic to combat Lyme disease. It was later confirmed that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease is responsible for the illness. The Wearable sensors helped the doctors to make the initial diagnosis, which a later analysis confirmed that the deviations in heart rate and oxygen levels during Snyder's travel were abnormal.

Wearable sensors also have the potentials to go beyond tracking simple metrics such as heart rates to providing actionable health information, but, researchers need to better understand how biometrics change in individuals over time and also determine which wearable sensors provides reliable data, useful enough to be used in diagnosis.

By putting together sensor measurements, genomics and lab results, the study generated 1.7 billion measurements including sleep patterns, skin temperatures, and even radiation exposure. Snyder was able to detect that his physiological oxygen and his heart rate on the plane to were abnormal as he was always with his gear and have come to know the normal personal baselines unique to him.

The research is not all about helping individuals predict their health but active steps towards a robust mobile diagnostic tool for a larger population, according to Wired. The participants reported several biometric monitoring possibilities, data from insulin resistant participants suggests that a simple set of measurement such as sleep patterns could help detect insulin resistant and give warning to people even before they develop Type 2 diabetes.

Xiao Li, study co-author also discovered last year that wearable sensor could be used to infer nascent inflammation, before symptoms begin to manifest. C-reactive protein is a common blood biomarker linked to inflammation from infections and immune dysfunction such as cancer.

Li checked the records, and found a similar pattern from the time Snyder was first bitten by tick, although he did not experience any symptoms, his sensors showed that something was wrong. He added once a person establishes his baseline biometrics, resting heart rate, can detect CRP levels indicative of inflammation, even without skin temperature.

Synder's case is just one of many intriguing ways wearable sensors can help monitor health, including detecting early indications of conditions such as infection, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, diabetes or even cancer. Consistent monitoring could improve care over time, most especially in area with less development where there are no adequate medical resources and patients find it difficult to see a doctor either due to lack of facility or the patient's impecuniosities.

The researchers believe that wearable sensor could help bridge these gaps and would also help reveal infections from bacteria like Borelia, which causes Lyme disease. The researchers published their findings January 12 in the journal PLOS Biology.