Doctor, Can You Check My iPhone Please?

This week I recieved a first edition prototype of the Scanadu Scout. It is a slick designed scanner roughly the size of a XXL-wristwatch that measures your heart rate, blood oxygenation (via pulse oxymetry), blood pressure and body temperature. Data is displayed on your smartphone through an app. An exciting piece of healthcare innovation and I’m happy to share my first findings here.

Dare to know
What struck me when I opened the package was the apparent simplicity of the Scanadu Scout and its slick design. Its plastic casing does not appear to be made of premium material but it feels solid enough. A USB-cable and disclaimer are also included.

The bottom of the Scanadu Scout has “sapere aude” printed on it, which is latin for “dare to know”. But is this white hockey puck really letting me know what is going on in my body? We will know once large scale tests by its new users have been completed and produced scientifically sound evidence. My scans produced plausible results but more on that later.

How it works
First you download the app and activate Bluetooth on your smartphone. Then you switch on the Scanadu Scout and gently place it against the left side of your forehead whilst holding a finger on the round metal sensor on top. Once you found the ideal spot on your forehead, sit still and you’re ready to go. The app shows the progress of the scan and you can see the scan quality ranging from ‘very poor’ to ‘awesome’. It’s nicely visualised and works intuitive so you can adjust accordingly.

Easier done than said
The Scanadu Scout can measure and process data faster than you can explain to somebody what you are actually going to measure. Within half a minute my blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and oxygen saturation values were scanned and visible on my iPhone.

Visualised data
The Scanadu Scout app creates graphs and trends automatically with your personal data but only for the scans you wish to save. You can also tag scans with information on how you feel, activity level and food/beverage consumption prior to the scan. It is possible to add short custom notes. Personally I’m OK with adding personal information such as age, gender, weight and height which you can insert into your personal profile in the app. This helps calculating better results. People with advanced medical knowledge may choose to edit the measurement ranges for each vital sign.

Scan results
I’ve used the Scanadu Scout in different situations and on several times during the day. The results were very plausible given the situation. To illustrate this I made a scan a few minutes after a gym workout. The readings clearly showed an abnormal higher rest heart rate of 121. Also, blood oxygenation at that point read 97% where it usually shows 100%. The readings corresponded with my body calming down and still breathing somewhat heavy after the workout.

Improvements
I also tried Scanadu Scout with my parents. It appears there is some room for improvement for the Scout in terms of the receptiveness of the sensors. My mother could not produce a proper scan after ten tries, joking that it’s probably because she has no heart.
Finding the ideal position to make a scan appears to be very delicate but once you get it right, it’s lightning fast.
It also appears very important to not exert pressure on the sensors. Some people tend to squeeze the device. Potentially interfering glasses, greasy skin, hair or nearby wireless devices do not seem to influence the Scout’s performance.

The temperature readings can also be improved. They seem to be on the high side. Both my dad and I found temperatures in the high 37 range (if shown at all) which we considered somewhat unlikely given the situation.

Overall though, I’m very impressed with the Scanadu Scout. Let’s not forget this is a prototype!

Donating data
Now why would I put a scanner to my forehead a couple of times a day? Besides improving the product, I believe devices such as the Scanadu Scout have the potential to improve health in the long run, cutting costs along the way.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had reliable algorithms literally at our fingertips that warn us when physical anomalies occur before things turn worse? What if our data helps doctors to enrich our personal profiles with digital physiological data to create e.g. optimised personal medical treatments, diets or (digital) medication programmes? These are just a few examples of how data can help to innovate healthcare but there are seemingly endless possibilities.

Next time I see my doctor I’ll ask her to check me AND my iPhone.