Google sister company Verily introduces smartwatch for clinical research

Verily, an Alphabet subsidiary that also includes Google, has announced a smartwatch intended for use in clinical research. The watch is mainly useful for observational research, where values ​​are measured over a certain period of time.

The arrival of the so-called Study Watch was announced on Verily’s blog. As the name suggests, the smartwatch is not intended as a consumer model, but can be used in human research. For wearers, the watch can measure all kinds of things, such as heart activity and movements. Applications are therefore also available in cardiovascular studies and in movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

Because patient data is stored on the watch, all storage memory is encrypted. According to Verily, the system is highly scalable, so data from large numbers of people can be stored and integrated with each other. It is unclear how much storage memory is on board, but the manufacturer states that it only needs to be synchronized with the servers once in a few weeks.

According to the company, the Verily smartwatch will mainly be used in observational research; that is, there are no direct applications for studies with a particular intervention, such as in drug research. Due to the long battery life, which is approximately one week, data can be measured over longer periods.