Health checks need new baseline metrics.

INSIGHT

Biometric baselines can be new standards of health data, not just identity measurements for access control.

Biomarkers are used across different sciences as biological measurements of physiological processes, pathological invasions, pharmacological responses or even therapeutic interventions. They are extremely useful to use as a measurable indicator, often around a baseline, in order to set more specific indicators of health states. Most of these molecules are measured from bodily fluids (or even breath) as easily testable samples and the technological field of studying them is fascinating. From nucleic-acid based biomarkers to computed tomography, there’s a wide range of advancements which has led to an interesting field of biometrics: a technical term for the calculations and measurements made of human characteristics using such technologies like fingerprint mapping, facial recognition and retina scans for identity authentication.

Beyond the future innovations of patient fraud, health data protection, and security access, there’s a whole field of biometric data which can replace the rather outdated stats found in today’s body checks. Measurements related to one’s physical characteristics (height, weight, BMI, Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Blood glucose, Insulin response, genome expression, VO2Max) are combined into algorithms that measure processes in their holism rather than their static parts. And with more accuracy. For those of you body builders whom are tired of getting “obese” results from your BMI calculation, a biometric that more accurately calculate the values that matter (i.e. height/weight/fat percentage/waist circumference/age and even breathing and fitness levels) could much more accurately calculate a body-mass index 2.0 that would be accurate. Or even biometrics that take in the amalgam of stats that will eventually be tracked by wearable tech to measure things like “CardioRespiratory Fitness”, “Glandular Metabolism”, ‘Breathing Intelligence”, or “Neuro-Receptivity” could be the new stats you see on your future Body Check exam clipboard (um, or rather, patient blockchain).

INSPIRATION

PAI Health

PAI stands for Personal Activity Intelligence, the first activity metric that tests one’s cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) over time to predict longevity (essentially via VO2Max parameters without the heavy equipment and strenuous testing). They are an Insurtech company, looking to change the game in the insurance world by offering a more accurate prediction of people’s “fitness age” rather than their chronological age so that insurer’s can not only better-predict long-term coverage but also redistribute risk more fairly across populations, and motivate people to improve their CRF for lower premiums.

INNOVATION

“Cool IT”

A biometric algorithm that measures your bodily inflammation over time via global temperature stats and chronic inflammatory cues through wearable sensor technology.

• Device agnostic, this algorithm can be uploaded via API to (i.e) Apple Watch in order to start taking in health data over time and calculate the algorithm that measures your InflammaTemp™ — a correlative global body heat picture to figure out whether you are likely dealing with chronic inflammation or not.

• Measures body heat over time through sensors on your wearable AND a Bluetooth enabled thermometer patches that can be administered during sleep cycles once a week or when not feeling optimal. Uses inputs from your inputted health profile to show existence of tell-tale signs of inflammation like fatigue, pain, gut issues, swollen lymph nodes, clogged nasal passageways, skin irritations, brain fog, heartburn, and headaches.

• Offers tips on how to manage inflammation through dietary suggestions (i..e no meat, coffee, fried or processed food for 3 days) or actions (i.e. take an ice bath).