A device smaller than a credit card and capable of monitoring people’s health vital signs is being trialled by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) to detect early signs of COVID-19 infection.
Chief Medical Officer at AAD, Dr Jeff Ayton said the BioSticker™ was a medical-grade wearable sensor designed to track temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, cough frequency and activity.
Dr Ayton said the first stage of the clinical trial was to understand if the technology was practical and comfortable for expeditioners to use.
“The BioSticker™ is almost unnoticeable and easy to wear, but we need to test these devices in predeparture quarantine and in the field to ensure they work for expeditioners, who face challenging conditions in the extreme Antarctic environment,” Dr Ayton said.
“Ultimately, the reason we’re doing this is to find out if the BioSticker™ is acceptable and has utility to provide early signals of infectious COVID-19 or, other infection risks, in expeditioners before they depart for Antarctica as well as on ships, planes and at stations,” he said.
“The unobtrusive single-use devices are worn on the upper chest and can function for up to 30 days while wirelessly transmitting data in real time.”
Dr Ayton said the trial was voluntary and would run for the length of the summer Antarctic season, augmenting the existing COVID-19 controls of 14 days of pre-departure quarantine and PCR testing.
Director of AAD, Kim Ellis praised the efforts of the Polar Medicine Unit and operations teams to keep Australia’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations COVID-free.
“The pandemic continues to throw challenges at Australia’s Antarctic Program but ingenuity thrives under pressure,” Mr Ellis said.
“This means we are looking at new technology and new ideas we might not otherwise have considered,” he said.
Mr Ellis said if the research proved successful, it could increase the level of protection offered to the people who kept AAD stations running and undertook scientific work.
