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The Latest Coronavirus Tracking Device Looks Like Skin and Sticks to Your Neck
Researchers are working on a wearable that can track cough patterns
The wearable industry was quick to realize the huge potential of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the pandemic unfurled, Fitbit unveiled a tracker that could detect unusual breathing patterns and heart rates associated with the disease. A device called the Pavlok threatened to zap wearers with 450 volts of electricity if they touched their face. Sharp-eyed Fitbit users also realized that a software update could turn their device into a pulse oximeter, which could detect the low blood oxygen sometimes associated with Covid-19.
The latest Covid-19 wearable looks a little different from the others: Small, flexible, and worn like a sticker at the base of the throat, a new device from researchers at Northwestern University looks a bit like the Band-Aids doctors place on a patient’s neck after intubation. Its unusual placement serves an important purpose: As Emily Mullin writes in Future Human, the device continuously measures body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory activity — including coughing.
From its position on the neck, the device identifies coughs, addresses their intensity, and then transmits this data to a tablet, where doctors can assess a…
