This study investigated the feasibility of using wearable peripheral temperature sensors for continuous fever monitoring. Data from the TemPredict study, involving 50 participants with COVID-19 infections, showed that illness-associated elevations in peripheral temperature were observable using wearable devices and correlated with self-reported fever. The findings support the hypothesis that wearable sensors can detect illnesses even without symptom recognition and predict illness onset using continuously collected physiological data. The results suggest further research into the role of wearable sensors in public health for illness detection.

Benjamin L. Smarr, Kirstin Aschbacher, Sarah M. Fisher, Anoushka Chowdhary, Stephan Dilchert, Karena Puldon, Adam Rao, Frederick M. Hecht, Ashley E. Mason