The Skeptical Cardiologist previously reviewed the Oura ring as a sleep tracker and found it fairly useless as a sleep or “readiness” tracker, although I really enjoyed its design, wearability, and user interface.
Many of the health claims Oura makes for its ring are unsubstantiated. Recent marketing has been incredibly misleading and inaccurate related to alleged capabilities of its ring to detect COVID-19 prior to symptoms as well as what role the wearable device might play in safely restarting the NBA season.
I received an email from Oura recently that strongly implied that its ring could diagnose COVID-19 in patients prior to symptom development.
The email linked to an article on the Ouraring.com website that linked to a press release from West Virginia University. The first paragraph implies that a major advance in COVID-19 diagnosis has been accomplished:
“The West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) and WVU Medicine, in conjunction with Oura Health, have addressed a major concern regarding the spread of COVID-19. The RNI has created a digital platform that can detect COVID-19 related symptoms up to three days before they show up.”
