ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) — Artificial Intelligence is becoming more important in healthcare. And some devices can be used at home to improve your health. Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Officer of WebMD, shared a couple of wearables he uses every day.
“It’s all about giving patients data,” he said, “data that’s about them.”
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He showed off the Oura, a smart ring that measures everything from your heart rate to your sleep. It can even tell if you’re stressed.
“You do want to wear it all day because that’s really the power of information. And I’ll tell you sometimes people don’t like wearing a watch. That’s what I’ve heard from patients who were to ring they’re kind of used to it,” he said.
Dr. Whyte says it’s helpful to where you need to make changes to improve your health. It can also warn you about possible health issues.
“A lot of these devices measure body temperature, and we’re starting to see those might be early indicators of colds and viruses and other illnesses. Because if your temperature is going up at night, normally our temperature goes down a little that could indicate, you know, some infection,” he said.
Oura rings start at $300.
Another device he uses every day is called Lumen.
“It’s actually basically a breathalyzer and you breathe into it. And what I’ll do is tell you whether you’re burning carbs or fat,” he said.
It works by measuring your CO2 levels.
“If I’m four or five, I know I’m burning too many carbs, I have to change when I’m eating at night or stop eating later at night. And that’s what I’ve been doing. And that’s been helping,” he said.
The Lumen device costs $300. There’s also a subscription option.
“It’ll give me a meal plan based on my data. And that’s the power of AI,” he said.
Privacy is a concern when it comes to medical issues. Dr. Whyte says it’s important to look at how your data is being protected before using technology.