Biostrap CEO Shares Personal Biometric Data Following Bout With COVID-19

Following his recent bout with COVID-19, Sameer Sontakey, the CEO of digital health experts Biostrap has decided to go public with his own personal biometric data collected by his Biostrap wearable and the accompanying app.

Biometric sensors on the wrist-worn Biostrap device first alerted the 35-year-old Sontakey to a significant deviation from his health baseline as determined via the biometric data collected, prompting him to get tested for the virus even though he hadn’t yet been experiencing any symptoms.

“It was Biostrap’s early warning notification that prompted me to schedule a nasal swab test, which confirmed the positive diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2,” said Sontakey.

Biostrap uses proprietary technology that extracts raw waveform photoplethysmography (PPG) to continuously capture the wearer’s biometrics at night while they sleep, going beyond the basic respiratory and heart rate measuring capabilities of most wearables on the market today. The Biostrap app was able to track and measure Sontakey’s resting heart rate, heart rate variability, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and arterial properties with clinical reliability and generate a risk stratification system based on a modified Early Warning Score (EWS) in order to detect the risk of potential respiratory infections.

Biometric wearables have become a vital part of COVID-19 detection programs throughout the world, with a number of high-profile partnerships emerging over the past year as organizations both private and public have looked for ways to safely track the spread of the virus in hopes of creating a safer world.

In Sontakey’s case, aside from changes to other biometric indicators, the data showed a decline in his sleep quality, including more frequent and longer disruptions.

“I expected my data to drop but didn’t think it was going to be so significant,” Sontakey said. “I felt absolutely miserable, my sleep data was ruined, and my heart rate variability has never been so low. It was in the low 20s when my baseline is in the 120s.”

After recovering from the virus, Sontakey’s biometric data showed a return to his normal baseline values, earning him a ‘green’ or ‘low risk’ classification from the Biostrap-EWS.

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March 11, 2021 – by Tony Bitzionis