Apple Watch 85% Accuracy in Detecting Diabetes May Be Precursor of Early Diagnoses

Permit me to (re-)introduce myself, LOL.

I haven’t posted since the end of October, because I was totally absorbed in writing The Future is Smart, my book about IoT strategy, which will be released in August by AMACOM, the publishing wing of the American Management Association. A major theme of the book is that the IoT lifts what I term the condition of  “Collective Blindness” that used to plague us before the advent of real-time data from sensors and the analytical software to interpret that data. Collective Blindness meant that we were frequently operating in figurative darkness, having to guess about how things worked or didn’t without direct observational data, which meant that we frequently didn’t learn about problems inside things until after the fact, which could mean costly (and sometimes fatal) corrective maintenance was all that was possible.

Those “things” unfortunately included the human body.

Usually the only way to uncover a problem inside our bodies pre-IoT was through costly pre-arranged tests at the doctor’s or a hospital. They could only provide a snapshot in time, documenting your body’s state at that precise moment (when, after all, you might be flat on your back wearing a johnny — not exactly representative of your actual condition as you go about your daily routine!). If you had no complaint warranting such a test, the condition might go undiagnosed until it was significantly worse (remember the contrast between prompt predictive maintenance of a jet turbine and costly emergency repairs when a disaster loomed?).

That’s why the news from Brandon Ballinger, the Google alum who was co-founder of the Cardiogram app (get it! I did! and I joined their Artificial Intelligence-driven Health eHeart Study as well!) is so important. In a clinical study released last week, the research team found that the Apple Watch is 85% accurate in detecting diabetes in those previously diagnosed with the disease. The paper was presented at the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence last week in New Orleans.

Results from heart monitoring with Apple Watch and Cardiogram app

The study analyzed data from 14,000 Apple Watch users, finding that 462 participants through the heart rate sensor, the same type of sensor.

The investigation tested a 2015 finding by our famous local Framingham Heart Study that resting heart rate and heart rate variability significantly predicted incident diabetes and hypertension.

According to TechCrunch,  Ballinger’s team had previously used the Watch “to detect an abnormal heart rhythm with up to a 97 percent accuracy, sleep apnea with a 90 percent accuracy and hypertension with an 82 percent accuracy when paired with Cardiogram’s AI-based algorithm.”

This is important for several reasons.

We’ve read for several years about single-purpose devices that might be able to diagnose diabetes and determine the need for insulin without painful pinpricks, but the Cardiograph research might show that simply harvesting enough data with a multi-purpose fitness device such as the Watch and being able to interpret it creatively with Artificial Intelligence would be enough. That’s the logical next step with the Health eHeart Study.

It reminds me of the example I’ve mentioned several times before of neonatologists from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and IBM data scientists combining to analyze the huge amount of sensor data harvested from preemies’ bassinettes and being able to diagnose a potentially-lethal neonatal sepsis infection a full day before any visible sign of the infection.

Given these two examples, one must ask, how many other health problems might be diagnosed in their earliest stages, which cures are most likely and least expensive, if routine monitoring through devices such as the Apple Watch become commonplace and the results are crunched with AI? In particular, this could be a key part of my SmartAging concept.

Exciting!

 

NB: I work part-time for The Apple Store, but am not privy to any strategy or inside information. These opinions are purely my own as an Apple Watch user.

 

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iQ handheld ultrasound: another game-changing IoT health device

As the Red Sox’ Joe Castiglione might say, “Can you believe it?” (I should add a few more question marks to underscore exactly how unbelievable this IoT device is).

That’s my reaction to the latest astounding IoT medical device, the iQ handheld ultrasound, which attaches to a smartphone.

I was mesmerized by the headline on a story about the Butterfly iQ: “Doctor says he diagnosed his own cancer with iPhone ultrasound machine.” (spoiler alert: he was operated on to remove the tumor, and is OK).

Then there’s the marketing pitch: “Whole body imaging. Under $2K.” (that’s as opposed to $115,000 for the average conventional machine).

Oh.

The video is a must watch: the doctors seem truly amazed by its versatility and ease-of-use — not to mention it can be accessed instantly in a life-or-death situation. As one is quoted saying, “This blows up the entire ultrasound playing field.”

It won’t be on the market until next year, but the FDA has already approved the iQ for diagnosis in 13 applications.  Even more amazing, due to advanced electronics, it uses a single probe instead of three, and can document conditions from the superficial to deep inside the body. The system fits in a pants pocket and simply attaches to the doctor’s smartphone.

As incredible as the iQ will be in the US, think of how it will probably bring ultrasound to developing nations worldwide for the first time!

Another video discusses the engineering, which reduced the entire bulky ultrasound machine to a far-less costly chip, (including a lot of signal processing and computational power) and capitalizes on technologies developed for consumer electronics. The approach doesn’t just equal the traditional piezioelectric technology, but surpasses it. with power that would cost more than $100,000 with a conventional machine.

In terms of manufacturing, Butterfly can use the same chip machines used to produce consumer goods such as smartphones, and can print nearly 100 ultrasound machines on less than one disk.

I thought instantly of my go-to “what can you do with the IoT that you couldn’t do before” device, the Kardia EKG on the back of my iPhone (I met a woman recently who said her Mass General cardiologist prescribes it for all of his patients). Both are absolute game changers, in terms of ease of access, lower cost, allowing on-the-spot monitoring and even potentially empowering patients (Yet another tool to make my SmartAging concept possible).

Oh, and did I mention that the iQ’s Artificial Intelligence will guide even inexperienced personnel to do high quality imaging within a few seconds?

Bottom line: if you talk to someone who doesn’t believe the IoT’s potential to make incredible changes in every aspect of our lives, just say: iQ. Wow!

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