RAS question
Wearable health technology like smartwatches can monitor:
Correct answer: (B) Heart rate, SpO2, ECG, sleep patterns, and physical activity.
Wearable health technology such as smartwatches can monitor heart rate, SpO2, ECG or heart rhythm signals, sleep patterns and physical activity.
Explanation
Modern health wearables are not limited to step counting. Smartwatches, bands, patches and similar devices use motion and biometric sensors to capture physiological measures such as step count, activity intensity, heart rate, heart rhythm, SpO2, sleep and temperature. Heart rate may be tracked through PPG, SpO2 through pulse-oximetry functions, ECG or heart-rhythm data through electrical or rhythm-sensing features, and sleep plus physical activity through continuous sensor data. Some devices can also flag atrial fibrillation or falls, and wearable data can fit into India's wider digital-health push.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Steps are only one activity measure; wearables can also track physiological data such as heart rate, SpO2, ECG or heart rhythm and sleep.
- (C) Calls are a communication function of some smartwatches, but the health-monitoring role asked here concerns sensor-based measures, not only calling.
- (D) Showing time is a basic watch function, whereas wearable health technology is defined by continuous monitoring of behavioural and physiological data.
Concept
This tests digital health and sensor applications in Science and Technology. It recurs in RAS because examiners often ask how everyday technologies, such as wearables, translate into public-health and clinical-monitoring use cases.