Capturing Digital Biomarkers

BOSTON– May 14, 2018: Following on the publication of their article, The New Digital Divide For Digital Biomarkers, Drs. Adam Powell and Jorge Rodriguez presented a lecture on the topic at the Bridge to Pop Health East conference. Their lecture, titled “Capturing Digital Biomarkers to Drive Predictive Models”, explained the concept of a digital biomarker, explored the barriers to capturing digital biomarkers, and reviewed recent efforts to use digital biomarkers for predictive modeling. Participation in the conference was a part of Payer+Provider’s multiyear commitment to developing thought leadership in the areas of digital health and mHealth.

What is a digital biomarker?
Diagram from: Torous J, Rodriguez J, Powell A. The New Digital Divide For Digital Biomarkers. Digital biomarkers. 2017;1(1).

Individual digital biomarkers are raw data on the behavior, physiology, cognitive performance, and self-perceived state of an individual. Individual digital biomarkers include metrics like heart rate, screen use, location data, call log data, and self-reported survey data. They may potentially be consolidated into composite digital biomarkers for disease states. These composite biomarkers may then be used to infer things about an individual’s status, alongside the biomarkers used by traditional basic science, such as genes, molecules, cells, and neural activity.