Google revealed Wednesday that it is releasing a new testing app for Android phones that will allow anyone with a smartphone to engage in medical studies. The first study called Google Health Research, would look at respiratory disorders such as flu and COVID-19.
Participants in the study will use the software to track any respiratory problems, the steps they are taking to avoid illness, and whether they have been screened for COVID-19 or influenza. The app will gather demographic data such as age, gender and ethnicity. Researchers in this study can examine trends in understanding the link between mobility (such as the number of daily trips a person makes outside the home) and the spread of COVID-19, Google wrote in a press release.
The app will submit data to researchers using a method called federated learning, which will stack aggregated patterns from several devices, rather than draw information from each participant independently.
Health Studies is Google's reaction to the Apple Study software that runs on iOS smartphones. Last year, experiments on menstrual cycles, independence and cardiac wellbeing and hearing were launched. Apple also helps researchers to create their own iPhone applications through its ResearchKit service.
Studies conducted by the app would come with the same caveats as experiments from other consumer wearable devices: they will only enroll users who can afford products like an Android phone. Aggregated data is a good way to preserve privacy, although this ensures that analysts are not in a position to take a granular look at information.
Android phone owners have a lower median income than iPhone users, which may be a boost to Google Health Reports. Android is potentially a more diverse dataset [than the iPhone]. We're pretty pumped about the opportunity to exploit it, John Brownstein, Boston Children's Hospital's Chief Innovation Officer working on a study with Google told Stat News.
