Biostrap CEO Goes Public With Biometric Changes After Contracting COVID-19 And Shares How His Wearable Alerted Him Prior To Diagnosis

The clinically reliable data capture of the wrist-worn biosensor may be a vital tool for remote population monitoring to ensure early risk stratification and track the development of respiratory infections

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Biostrap

Mar 09, 2021, 09:08 ET

LOS ANGELES, March 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CEO of Biostrap, a digital health company, goes public with his personal data showing the decline of his health after contracting SARS-CoV-2 and becoming symptomatic with COVID-19. Sameer Sontakey, 35, was first alarmed by his Biostrap app.

Vital biometrics that the wrist-worn wearable measures reported a significant deviation from Sontakey's healthy baseline.

"It was Biostrap's early warning notification that prompted me to schedule a nasal swab test, which confirmed the positive diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2," Sameer Sontakey, Biostrap CEO, said.

Although most patients with COVID-19 present with mild symptoms, they still show significant biometric changes, including resting heart rate, heart rate variability, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate and arterial properties.

Having the ability to capture such data with clinical reliability, Biostrap's team has developed a risk stratification system based on a modified Early Warning Score (EWS) to detect the potential risk of respiratory infections.

The Biostrap-EWS™ compares a person's nocturnal biometrics relative to their historical measurements and classifies the result as low, medium or high likelihood of respiratory infection, indicated by green, yellow or red indicators, respectively.

The Biostrap-EWS™ is based on the British National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) recommended in the United Kingdom for risk stratification of admitted COVID-19 patients. The Biostrap-EWS™, however, avoids the limitations of universal binning through the use of a continuous scale relative to the person's baseline, and it features respiratory-disease-specific escalation based on recently published literature.

In a recently published case report, scientists found that the modified early warning score developed by Biostrap, appeared to detect respiratory infections in a real-world environment via passively collected biometric data.

Remote monitoring solutions, like what Biostrap offers, may pave the way for how wearables can be used to manage the health of various populations and predict multiple diseases using cloud-based technology and advanced algorithms.

However, limited by their sensor technology, most wearables only look at respiratory rate and heart rate variability to predict or measure the severity of COVID-19.

By extracting raw waveform photoplethysmography (PPG), Biostrap's proprietary technology can continuously capture clinically reliable biometrics each night and even quantify arterial and peripheral elasticity associated with cardiovascular health and aging.

Sontakey's data showed a peak in arterial elasticity, even before a COVID-19 test would confirm a positive diagnosis. It then maintained a prolonged plateau phase, lending evidence to the endothelial involvement of COVID-19.

In addition to the maladaptive changes in Sontakey's biometric trends, his sleep quality declined; sleep disruptions and duration increased significantly.

"I expected my data to drop but didn't think it was going to be so significant," Sontakey said. "I felt absolutely miserable, my sleep data was ruined, and my heart rate variability has never been so low. It was in the low 20s when my baseline is in the 120s."

After recovery, Sontakey's biometrics returned to normal baseline values, and the Biostrap-EWS™ resumed classifying him as green, indicating low risk.

Working with a clinically reliable wearable, data scientist Reinier van Mourik is the expert behind determining how to track the relevant biometrics Biostrap measures and providing meaningful insight into whether a person has COVID-19.

"Because we have full raw waveform data available, we can look at subtle changes in a person's pulse shape as tell-tales of specific diseases," van Mourik said, adding that he observed that Sontakey had the same pattern other users did who reported testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 during Biostrap's internal COVID-19 Study in 2020.

About Biostrap
Biostrap is a science-driven platform developed to improve and optimize human health. Facilitating data collection through a proprietary and clinically reliable wrist-worn device, Biostrap utilizes machine learning to provide actionable data to improve sleep, recovery and performance. Biostrap analyzes each heartbeat for 29 unique parameters on its secure servers to ensure data reliability. Biostrap is referenced in 14 publications and has 22 clinical studies validating its biometric measurements against gold standard medical diagnostics and use cases in specific medical conditions. Providing an individualized approach to consumers via an app and web dashboard, Biostrap also delivers customizable remote monitoring solutions for medical, clinical and fitness professionals. With its Biostrap Labs research division, Biostrap offers wellness companies the opportunity to validate the efficacy of their products and services in a real-world setting. For more information on Biostrap's latest products and to stay up to date on company news, visit www.Biostrap.com and follow the brand on social media through LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The Biostrap app is available for iOS on the Apple App Store and Android on the Google Play Store.

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