Royal Philips is partnering with the Department of Defense and College Station-basedTexas A&M University to test and train artificial intelligence to discern and predict types of infection.
The three entities will lead a Persistent Readiness through Early Prediction clinical trial, which is "aimed at understanding the body's physiological response to different infections," including pneumococcal pneumonia and typhus, Philips said in a Nov. 29 news release.
"We are looking at how to empower people to take better control of their health from the devices that they are already wearing on their wrist or hand, and connect these to the devices in-hospital that are constantly monitoring us," Franklin Schuling, PhD, head of research of Philips North America, said in the release. "This allows us to predict these diseases before patients show symptoms and further extends the power and the impact of AI."
The PREP trial will evaluate if commercial, off-the-shelf monitoring devices can accurately predict infections days before a diagnosis, like they did for COVID-19.
"Innovation does not happen in a vacuum," Dr. Schuling said.