Waterloo: A team of Waterloo researchers found that applying artificial
intelligence to the right combination of data retrieved from wearable
technology may detect whether your health is failing.
The study, which involved researchers from Waterloo’s Faculties of
Applied Health Sciences and Engineering, found that the data from
wearable sensors and artificial intelligence that assesses changes in
aerobic responses could one day predict whether a person is experiencing
the onset of a respiratory or cardiovascular disease.
“The onset of a lot of chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes
and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, has a direct impact on our
aerobic fitness,” said Thomas Beltrame, who led the research while at
the University of Waterloo, and is now at the Institute of Computing in
University of Campinas in Brazil. “In the near future, we believe it
will be possible to continuously check your health, even before you
realize that you need medical help.”
The study monitored active, healthy men in their twenties who wore a
shirt for four days that incorporated sensors for heart rate, breathing
and acceleration. They then compared the readings with laboratory
responses and found that it was possible to accurately predict
health-related benchmarks during daily activities using only the smart
shirt.
“The research found a way to process biological signals and generate a
meaningful single number to track fitness,” said Richard Hughson,
co-author and kinesiology professor at the Schlegel-University of
Waterloo Research Institute for Aging.
Beltrame and Hughson co-authored the study with Alexander Wong,
Canada Research Chair in artificial intelligence and medical imaging and
an engineering professor at Waterloo. He is affiliated with both the
Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute and the Schlegel-University
of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging. Robert Amelard, of the
Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging, is also a
co-author. The study appears in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
“This multi-disciplinary research is a great example of how
artificial intelligence can be a potential game-changer for healthcare
by turning data into predictive knowledge to help healthcare
professionals better understand an individual’s health,” said Wong. “It
can have a significant impact on improving quality of life and
well-being.”
Carré Technologies developed the smart shirts, called Hexoskin, used in the research.
The team plans to test these systems on mixed ages and genders, and
people with health issues to see how people might wear the sensors to
gauge whether their health is failing