Mio Global’s PAI Algorithm

Mio Global, a health technology company, announces the publication of the first scientific study supporting its ground-breaking personal health metric ‘ Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) ‘ in The American Journal of Medicine. Ultimately, there has never been a prescription for the exact amount of exercise you need, until now, as PAI prescribes the right amount of activity needed to reduce the risk of premature death, and seeks to motivate people to become and stay physically active.

A recognised pioneer in sports and fitness technology with distribution around the world, Mio is known for its industry-leading heart rate monitor technology and wearables. The company was founded by CEO Liz Dickinson, a visionary in the fitness technology sector, who holds numerous patents. Mio offers a range of heartrate monitoring watches and wristbands, including award-winning wearables such as Mio ALPHA, Mio FUSE, Mio LINK, and later this year, Mio SLICE, as well as advanced technologies such as PAI ‘ Personal Activity Intelligence ‘ a revolutionary new system and metric to manage one’s health through exercise by tracking activity levels based on heart rate.

Mio’s deep R&D capabilities in machine learning and AI have positioned them to become a technology company with a mission to license its technologies to others to make wearables meaningful. Mio continues to deliver the world’s most accurate heart rate and heart rate variability in motion and other biometric sensing capabilities.

What is PAI?

PAI is a scientifically proven way of personalising physical activity and exercise recommendations to substantially reduce the risk of premature cardiovascular disease and death. Rather than taking a ‘one-size-fits all’ approach to fitness monitoring via step count, distance tracking or duration, PAI provides a weekly target score of 100 or more PAI that is associated with increased longevity and reduced risk of lifestyle-related diseases by up to 38 percent. To get this score, PAI translates your heart rate from any physical activity and personal profile data (age, gender, resting and maximum heart rate) into easily understandable PAI points.

The PAI Study Insights 

The study was done by the Nobel Prize Winning Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and co-authored by renowned researchers, Dr. Carl Lavie, Cardiologist at John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, New Orleans, and Professor Ulrik Wisloff, Head of CERG (Cardiac Exercise Research Group) at NTNU. The algorithms used to create PAI are based on the HUNT Study, a unique study of more than 45,000 individuals that have been closely monitored over 25 years, gathering one of the largest data sets ever collected for the analysis of lifestyle choices and physiological profiles. By utilising data from the HUNT database and applying the PAI algorithm to men and women, specifically to mortality rates in the group, this study is the first to clearly identify the amount of physical activity needed to help protect against lifestyle-related diseases.

Men and women with a weekly PAI score of 100 or greater had on average a 17 percent and 23 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular disease mortality compared to the inactive groups. Obtaining a minimum of 100 PAI was associated with significantly lower risk for cardiovascular disease mortality in all age groups and in participants with known cardiovascular disease risk factors (type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity). Participants who did not obtain 100 or more PAI had increased risk of dying regardless of meeting the physical activity recommendations (at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week), which proves that keeping your PAI score at 100 or above is more effective than following today’s exercise guidelines and validates that intensity and quality of exercise matters.

Key Takeaways

‘PAI will likely become a game changer in getting, and keeping people physically active,’ says Dr. Wisloff. ‘It doesn’t matter what your favorite activity is ‘ hiking in the mountains, running on a treadmill, or playing with your kids in the backyard ‘ because PAI considers intensity, duration and frequency of all exercise and daily activities over time. The data behind PAI says that it doesn’t matter if you prefer to walk at a relatively low intensity for hours or workout at high intensity for shorter periods of time, as long as you earn 100 PAI points per week.’

Evolving evidence suggests that cardiorespiratory fitness outperforms physical activity as a predictor of future health. Goals such as £10,000 steps per day’ or £30-minutes of activity per day’ lack clear feedback and the actual reflection of the body’s response to each activity. Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence that links any health outcome to achieving 10,000 steps per day. The most personalized, accurate way to track and measure the body’s response to activity is through monitoring a person’s heart rate. Keeping your weekly PAI score above 100 ensures you are getting enough exercise to sustain a fitness level at or above the age-specific average.

‘As more and more consumers are looking for ways to achieve and maintain optimal health, many have invested in fitness trackers that we have yet to see deliver real results for people,’ said Liz Dickinson, Founder and CEO of Mio Global. ‘PAI connects activity levels to health in a concrete way by using one simple metric that is far more meaningful and personalized than counting 10,000 steps or minutes. Several clinical trials have been planned over the next year to derive more from the heart beat and continue improving global health by making wearables meaningful.’