Still, researchers are exploring how these devices can be used meaningfully in a clinical setting. A project in the UK investigated whether a Garmin Venu 2 smartwatch and a dedicated companion app could save doctors and nurses minutes of their time.
The Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) is used to diagnose and monitor many cardiovascular diseases. These include Pulmonary Hypertension, which can be fatal if left untreated. “[This test] has been considered the cornerstone of hospital practice and clinical trials for decades around the world because it is an indicator of how well the heart and lungs are working,” said project leader Dr. Joseph Newman. While a change in a blood test marker can be clinically important, Newman noted that “it’s more important that a person can walk to the store and back.” The test requires a patient to walk continuously for six minutes on a flat, hard surface, which puts enough strain on the heart to measure its capacity. An expert measures the patient’s heart rate and blood oxygen levels at the beginning and end of the test, and while this method is simple and reliable, according to Newman, “it’s not perfect. That’s why we thought about changing it in two important directions,” he said, “can we make it shorter duration and can we digitize it for remote use?”
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After all, six minutes in a clinical setting can feel like a lifetime, and patients don’t like to drive all the way to the hospital just to walk down a corridor. So researchers Newman and Lucy Robertson from the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge began looking for ways to revolutionize the test. They wanted to see if the test could be reduced to a single minute, and if it was possible for a patient to do it themselves at home using Venu 2. The watch was connected to a secure and private clinical trial platform built by Aparito for the tests. This was then sent to patients with instructions to walk outside to complete their own tests. “They were asked to walk at their own natural pace on flat, even, dry, relatively level roads, not in laps or circuits,” said Dr. Newman.
Garmin Venu 2 could be your new doctor!
“We did a product evaluation early in the research process and were open-minded about the make or model,” said Newman. “Garmin stood out for a number of reasons; in addition to the raw data, we have access to Garmin’s algorithmic derived variables.” As the research was funded by the British Heart Foundation, a charity, the watch must have good monetary value.
tired. Thanks to Garmin’s existing health research division, the team felt reassured that they could “trust the accuracy of the sensors,” plus Aparito thinks the “Garmin SDK is relatively easy to work with,” he said. But while Garmin is currently in use, there’s no reason this setup can’t eventually work with many different brands. “If the technology works, is accurate, reliable and accepted by patients, we are not tied to any brand.”
Giving patients the ability to test at home has several benefits: It’s more representative of the demands of their real lives, and patients can repeat the test at regular intervals, which makes it easier to monitor a person’s health over time. “We can see that there is real value in providing patients with pulmonary hypertension with an app and a smartwatch,” said Dr. Newman. “This will never completely replace personal hospital reviews, but it will probably reduce the frequency of them.”
Current study results show that reducing the test to one minute has no negative impact on results or accuracy, and that patients are more likely to do it regularly at home. “The initial costs to hospitals [of smartwatches] may have been offset in the long run by the reduction in hospital visits,” said Newman. If this turns out to be true, it could allow clinicians to better focus their time and efforts where their expertise is more valuable.
Still, researchers are exploring how these devices can be used meaningfully in a clinical setting. A project in the UK investigated whether a Garmin Venu 2 smartwatch and a dedicated companion app could save doctors and nurses minutes of their time.
The Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) is used to diagnose and monitor many cardiovascular diseases. These include Pulmonary Hypertension, which can be fatal if left untreated. “[This test] has been considered the cornerstone of hospital practice and clinical trials for decades around the world because it is an indicator of how well the heart and lungs are working,” said project leader Dr. Joseph Newman. While a change in a blood test marker can be clinically important, Newman noted that “it’s more important that a person can walk to the store and back.” The test requires a patient to walk continuously for six minutes on a flat, hard surface, which puts enough strain on the heart to measure its capacity. An expert measures the patient’s heart rate and blood oxygen levels at the beginning and end of the test, and while this method is simple and reliable, according to Newman, “it’s not perfect. That’s why we thought about changing it in two important directions,” he said, “can we make it shorter duration and can we digitize it for remote use?”
After all, six minutes in a clinical setting can feel like a lifetime, and patients don’t like to drive all the way to the hospital just to walk down a corridor. So researchers Newman and Lucy Robertson from the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge began looking for ways to revolutionize the test. They wanted to see if the test could be reduced to a single minute, and if it was possible for a patient to do it themselves at home using Venu 2. The watch was connected to a secure and private clinical trial platform built by Aparito for the tests. This was then sent to patients with instructions to walk outside to complete their own tests. “They were asked to walk at their own natural pace on flat, even, dry, relatively level roads, not in laps or circuits,” said Dr. Newman.
“We did a product evaluation early in the research process and were open-minded about the make or model,” Newman said. “Garmin stood out for a number of reasons; in addition to the raw data, we have access to Garmin’s algorithmic derived variables.” Because the research was funded by the British Heart Foundation, a charity, the watch had to be good value for money. Thanks to Garmin’s existing health research division, the team felt reassured to “trust the accuracy of the sensors”, and Aparito thinks the “Garmin SDK is relatively easy to work with”, he said. But while Garmin is currently in use, there’s no reason this setup can’t eventually work with many different brands. “If the technology works, is accurate, reliable and accepted by patients, we are not tied to any brand.”
Giving patients the ability to test at home has several benefits: It’s more representative of the demands of their real lives, and patients can repeat the test at regular intervals, which makes it easier to monitor a person’s health over time. “We can see that there is real value in providing patients with pulmonary hypertension with an app and a smartwatch,” said Dr. Newman. “This will never completely replace personal hospital reviews, but it will probably reduce the frequency of them.”
Current study results show that reducing the test to one minute has no negative impact on results or accuracy, and that patients are more likely to do it regularly at home. “The initial costs to hospitals [of smartwatches] may have been offset in the long run by the reduction in hospital visits,” said Newman. If this turns out to be true, it could allow clinicians to better focus their time and efforts where their expertise is more valuable.
