Smart watches and fitness trackers are seen on almost everyone nowadays but they might not be all they're cracked up to be, according to an article from STAT (a health oriented news website). These devices may not provide people of color with accurate readings. The technology that wearable heart rate trackers use could be less reliable for users with darker skin. As wearable electronics continue to grow and be integrated in our everyday lives there are broad implications as companies are incorporating them into and/or creating wellness programs and offering financial incentives or other benefits based on results logged by these devices. As well as drawing concern to whether implicit prejudices are shaping the development of these devices and the algorithms used which could prove an existing bias in medicine that is already present. Not to mention people with various conditions relying on these devices to prevent what could be major health complications.

Nearly all consumer devices that track heart rate rely on optical sensors that continuously monitor the volume of your blood. In between beats, there is less blood volume at your wrist, and therefore more light that is reflected back to the sensor. But not all devices rely on the same kind of light.

Fitbits, Samsung watches, Garmin and several other brands rely on only green lights. These lights are simpler and cheaper to use than the infrared lights that power hospital-grade heart rate trackers but because green light has a shorter wavelength skin with more melanin blocks green light, making it harder to get an accurate reading. The darker your skin is, the harder it gets. In contrast to Apple devices that rely on green light for continuous monitoring, but also takes a reading with an infrared light roughly every five minutes giving a more accurate reading than other devices.

Researchers and scientists were careful to point out that there isn’t clear research that shows exactly how accurate consumer heart rate trackers are for people with darker skin — the issue has hardly been studied, in part because the technology changes so fast. But they also emphasized that the effect of melanin on green light absorption is well-documented — and that without more research or more public information from the manufacturers about accuracy, it is equally hard to prove there isn’t an impact.

Read the full article here: https://www.statnews.com/2019/07/24/fitbit-accuracy-dark-skin/

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