Health security

Wearable biosensors can flag illness, Lyme disease, risk for diabetes; low airplane oxygen

By following 60 people through their everyday lives, Stanford researchers found that smart watches and other personal biosensor devices can help flag when people have colds and even signal the onset of complex conditions like Lyme disease and diabetes. "We want to tell when people are healthy and also catch illnesses at their earliest stages," said Michael Snyder, PhD, Professor and Chair of Genetics at Stanford and senior author of the study. Postdoctoral scholars Xiao Li, PhD, and Jessilyn Dunn, PhD, and researcher Denis Salins share lead authorship.