University of Pittsburgh and
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have created a new wrist instrument that they hope will more effectively measure psychosocial stress exposure more effectively around the clock.
The
National Institutes of Health (NIH) is banking on it, having funded Pitt Psychology Professor Thomas Kamarck and his colleagues $426,000 for the first year of their four-year project. The research is part of a larger NIH initiative to study environmental factors that people encounter in everyday life that may increase their risk of certain diseases.
Called the eWatch, the device is a multi-sensor unit, the size of a large wristwatch, that can sense sound, motion, ambient light, and skin temperature, all factors that provide clues about the wearer’s health status and current activity. Over the course of three days, the eWatch prompts wearers to engage in a short interview and records their responses.
What makes eWatch unique is that the wearer can use a Bluetooth and respond through a cell phone, or they can press a keypad to answer questions, which will capture important information in real time. “We hope the eWatch will be more user friendly and give people greater flexibility,” says Kamarck. “While we’ve previously captured people in the heat of the day, we hope this will allow us to do it more effectively and with a larger number of people who have busier lives.”
Previous research has shown that responses to such interviews help predict who will show higher rates of plaque development in the arteries, a risk factor for heart attack or stroke. Interviews in real time allow researchers to quantify how stressors affect one’s daily life, as well as to pinpoint when these effects begin and when they end.
Writer:
Deb SmitSource: Thomas Kamarck, University of Pittsburgh
Image courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University