Apple study will look at the role tech can play in health
Apple has teamed up with Brigham and Women's Hospital on a major new study looking at how devices like the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods can be used to monitor and improve health and wellbeing.
The virtual study – which can be accessed via the Research app on compatible devices in the US – will "explore relationships between various areas of health, such as mental health's impact on heart rate, or how sleep can influence exercise," according to the tech giant.
It will gather data from Apple, as well as third-party devices, to gauge how it can be used to "predict, detect, monitor, and manage" changes in the health of participants.
The research will build on Apple's growing presence in digital health, marked by recent FDA approvals such as software to detect sleep apnoea using the Apple Watch and the use of AirPods as over-the-counter hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing impairment, and more established features like medication tracking on the iPhone and Apple Watch.
The Apple Health Study hopes to identify "signals" – either physical or emotional – that can be detected using technology and perhaps give a warning about a change in health. For example, early detection of a change in hearing could indicate a risk for cognitive decline.
It will build on earlier studies carried out using the Research platform in more than 350,000 people in the US that have focused on women's health, physical exercise and cardiovascular health, and hearing.
"Research and validation are part of the foundation of all of our work in health, supporting the innovative features we bring to our users across devices," said Sumbul Desai, Apple's vice president of Health.
"The valuable insights we've gained since launching the Research app have allowed us to bring innovative new tools to our users – including the Vitals app on Apple Watch and Walking Steadiness on iPhone – and surface new insights in areas of health that have long been undervalued, like menstrual and hearing health," she added.
"We're thrilled to bring forward the Apple Health Study, which will only accelerate our understanding of health and technology across the human body, both physically and mentally."
In its statement on the study launch, Apple also notes that the research could potentially also guide the development of new products. The company doesn't have a smart ring in its range, for example, and has said it has no plans to do so, even though it has filed patents in this area and there have been persistent rumours that it is working on a device in recent years.
"We've only just begun to scratch the surface of how technology can improve our understanding of human health," commented Calum MacRae, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and the principal investigator of the new study.
"We are excited to be part of the Apple Health Study, as it will continue to explore connections across different areas of health using technology that so many people carry with them every day."
