How Garmin is Powering Labfront's Groundbreaking Research

‍A few years back, when Labfront first dived into digital health research, our team had one big question on our minds: "Who can we collaborate with to do solid, ground-breaking research?" Now, after a couple of years, we're thrilled to say that Garmin has been that collaborator.

Garmin has established itself as a trusted industry leader, with products supporting researchers across all disciplines, whether you need sleep staging, body composition, respiration rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, or heart rate data. You can check out Garmin's Health Research Database for a comprehensive collection of published third-party studies using their devices.

24/7 High-Resolution Data: A Research Goldmine

‍What makes Garmin stand out? For starters, they offer 24/7 granular, beat-to-beat interval data and customizable actigraphy data. To our knowledge, they are the only consumer wearable company that does this. If you're into research, you may understand why this is a big deal. This level of data granularity provides a landscape fertile for nuanced research ranging from cardiological studies to lifestyle assessments.

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Did You Know?

Granular beat-to-beat interval data collected with Garmin devices can be used to derive heart rate variability (HRV). You can learn all about HRV in Dr. Andrew Ahn's HRV masterclass, available on Labfront Academy. Watch here.

A Company You Can Trust

Another reason we appreciate our collaboration with Garmin? Their values. Garmin sees itself more as a hardware company than a software one, so they're not in the business of selling your data. They respect user privacy, which aligns perfectly with our values and principles.

Democratizing Health Sciences Through Affordability

‍One aspect we cannot overlook is the cost factor. Unlike medical-grade devices that can set you back thousands, Garmin wearables are impressively affordable. This aligns seamlessly with our overarching goal to democratize health sciences. We believe in making rigorous scientific research accessible, and Garmin's pricing helps us move that mission forward.

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Did You Know?

A Garmin smartwatch can be just as effective as a medical-grade actigraphic device--and at a fraction of the cost, too. Check out our experiment here.

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Grant Initiatives

Not only that, Garmin has gone above and beyond in collaborating with us on our grant initiatives -- donating devices to support researchers eager to incorporate wearables in their studies. They awarded five devices to each of the five winners of our Women's Health Research Award, supporting important work in the understudied field of women's health.

Most recently, they're willing to support an increasing number of mental health research projects, including a joint mental health research grant with Labfront for researchers studying these uncharted territories of the mind. This grant offers five vívosmart® 5 fitness trackers and the Labfront Advanced Package to the awardees.

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Responsive and Collaborative

‍Our experience with Garmin has been stellar. We have pointed out areas where we think data quality could be improved, and they've listened. We're talking better heart rate monitoring and more customizable accelerometer processing. Plus, there's more to come. By teaming up with Garmin, we've found a collaborator that checks all our boxes: data reliability, ethical conduct, and a willingness to improve and innovate. So, if you're a researcher or a citizen scientist looking to dive into some rich data, please give us a closer look.

Garmin Health Resources

• Garmin Technology for Health Science
• Garmin Health for Researchers
• Garmin Health Research Library
• Using Garmin x Labfront for Research: An Overview