OT: Michigan Grad's Smart Thermometer Company can predict outbreaks before the CDC
Michigan Engineering Grad Inder Singh's company, Kinsa, developed a thermometer, linked to a smartphone app, that can predict outbreaks of disease, such as COVID 19, based on increasing body temperatures in a geographic area, sometimes weeks before the CDC's tool. There are more than 1 million thermometers out there, so there are plenty of data points to collect. Fascinating, but fairly simple, technology.
You can read about here:
https://www.ozy.com/news-and-politics/the-man-mapping-coronavirus-with-smart-thermometers/290739/
The map which shows where potential outbreaks are is found here:
https://healthweather.us/
I heard about Kinsa three days ago, and have been following the reported data ever since. It's pretty amazing. The positive impact of social distancing is clearly evident. As is, unfortunately, the negative consequences of not participating quickly enough.
Poor, damn Florida.
There are places in Michigan, too, like Hillsdale County, where rates of infection are headed the wrong way. But Southeast Michigan may be seeing some hopeful trends in the data.
Wow. If Florida really is that bad, you'd have to think a lot of it has to do with spring break.
They closed my st Pete beach today and others. Overkill. Every politician wants to out do each other. Where’s the concern for open borders and the drugs that kill much more? Where was the media on H1N1? Every politician wants to our do the other. We’re doing fine down here. Now impeachment is over its 24/7 news.
March 21st, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
What's wrong with you?
We don't have open borders, although we did when all of our ancestors immigrated here.
The media, and the government was all over H1N1, you have a faulty memory. Incidentally, H1N1 is way less deadly than this thing we're dealing with now.
Shame on me for responding.
March 21st, 2020 at 12:19 PM ^
It's either a bot or a paid political troll. Don't waste your time Mad Hatter.
They closed my st Pete beach today and others. Overkill. Every politician wants to out do each other. Where’s the concern for open borders and the drugs that kill much more? Where was the media on H1N1? Every politician wants to our do the other. We’re doing fine down here. Now impeachment is over its 24/7 news.
March 21st, 2020 at 11:17 AM ^
You're off base. This is far more dangerous than H1N1. Lots of people will die unnecessarily because people (like you?) just say fuck you to anybody who "tells them what to do."
No doubt. One of the early beliefs about COVID-19, based on cases in China and the early cases in Washington, was that only "old people get it." That's turning out to be very wrong. The rate of hospitalization seems to be spread across almost all age groups, and here in Michigan is highest among people 40-60.
I heard about that on MSNBC the other night, sounded VERY promising. Didn't know is was a fellow alum, nice to hear.
Did I miss where they said how predicting where the outbreaks will be can help prevent or slow them?
Among the possibilities I have heard is that when a sudden spike in flu-like illness is detected in an area, public health and government leaders can sound an early alarm, asking residents to start practicing social distancing. This data showed a second spike in flu-like illness earlier this year, several days before it was reported by the CDC, which is looking at reported cases presenting at healthcare facilities. For a fast-moving outbreak, like COVID-19, it could mean the difference between a local issue that is detected early and stopped, and a global pandemic that continues to stay under the radar.
March 21st, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
Among the possibilities I have heard is that when a sudden spike in flu-like illness is detected in an area, public health and government leaders can sound an early alarm, asking residents to start practicing social distancing.
Great, so more staying at home all day and not having a normal life?...no thanks.
What you think of as a “normal life” irrevocably changed the day that the first carrier of SARS-CoV-2 entered the U.S. Be prepared to be passively screened for fever any time you board a plane or cross a border from now on. The same could be true for any large gathering of people, including concerts, etc.
Be prepared to be passively screened for fever any time you board a plane or cross a border from now on. The same could be true for any large gathering of people, including concerts, etc.
I'm not too worried about traveling, but I'd love to go back to work next fall (HS teacher) and get married in September. Currently we have 134 guests invited to a destination wedding in Maine and have put down payments on the venue, DJ, cake baker, & photographer, plus my fiancee already bought her dress and most of my groomsman have purchased their suits.
Very cool. Possibilities could transform tracking and prediction. Now if everyone had a smart thermometer.
This is neat! Finally, big data collected from all of those IoT things does something useful that doesn't include straight up advertising. I hope they continue to refine this, and that it helps determine future hotspots. Targeting containment efforts would go over so much better in this country than what we're getting right now...
There appear to be a couple of limitation with using data in this way:
- There is no ability to distinguish the specific illness
- The comparison point is typical level of flu like illness for this point in the season
The second distorts the picture, as Florida is probably approaching zero flu cases in mid-March, which makes it appear as the major hotspot. In truth, New York has 15 times the cases as Florida and Washington looks normal.
Is the data as to how many unique data points exist in a location?
Id go buy one here in Columbus, but not available anywhere.... Don't know whether it's not available or just sold out.