This smart bandage checks for symptoms of what disease?

A research team at Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago has developed a smart device, worn on the skin like a Band-Aid, that can detect early signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and then monitor the disease round-the-clock as it progresses.

The bandage, which is roughly the size of a postage stamp, is attached at the base of the throat and can be worn all day long. It measures five different factors at once: temperature, heart rate, coughing patterns, respiratory sounds and movement of the chest/lungs.

The data that the device collects is transmitted to a cloud, protected by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, where it is analyzed by AI algorithms. These algorithms can pick subtle signs out of the data, providing the ability to catch the disease at very early stages.

These devices are in use at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where 25 COVID-19 patients have been wearing them for the past two weeks.