A critical symptom of sickle cell illness can be treated with the Apple Watch. New research suggests that tweaks to Apple’s speech recognition system may benefit those who stutter.
According to a study from Duke University’s Day Hospital (reported on by MyHealthyApple), the Apple Watch could assist in treating vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs), a significant complication brought on by sickle cell disease that frequently results in patients being admitted to hospitals because of excruciating pain. According to the research, machine learning can identify patterns to forecast pain in persons with sickle cell disease using the health data gathered by the Apple Watch. Before it worsens, it could serve as an early warning indication and allow for treatment with analgesics and saline hydration.
Between July 2021 and September 2021, sickle cell illness patients were enrolled in the study and given an Apple Watch Series 3 during their stay at a day hospital for a Week. A machine learning model to predict VOCs was developed by comparing 15,683 data points from the Apple Watch’s heart rate, heart rate variability, and activity data with pain levels and vital signs from the hospital’s electronic medical record.
Colin Lea, an Apple research scientist specializing in machine learning and accessibility-related features, recently published a study suggesting that adjustments to Apple’s speech recognition algorithm and machine learning could help people with stutters by significantly lowering cut-off utterances and word error rates by almost 80%.
