Philips AI helps predict the health of PSV players

PSV will start using advanced AI technology from Philips to predict impending overuse injuries or infections. The innovation being tested at PSV is based on a Philips-developed, patented algorithm (“RATE”) that detects early signs of respiratory infections using data from wearables.

Traditional sports data focuses on what has already happened. This technology focuses on what will happen.

Infections often occur before symptoms appear

Philips and PSV are now applying this technology for the first time in an elite sports environment to explore how AI can help improve performance, prevent injuries and infections, and optimize recovery. Viruses spread in elite sports environments faster than many people realize. Infections often occur before symptoms become apparent: an estimated 40 to 45 percent of COVID-19 transmissions occur during this early, symptom-free phase, and with influenza, infectiousness usually begins one to two days before the first symptoms appear. As a result, infections can spread rapidly within sports teams without being noticed.

“In elite sports, it’s all about the details,” says Wart van Zoest, PSV’s club physician. “We hope to see that Philips’ technology detects small changes in the body that often precede overuse or the onset of an infection. This would allow us to intervene sooner, for example by adjusting training load or performing a medical check earlier. AI helps us identify these signals earlier in the data coming from players’ wearables. I see these developments not only in elite sports but increasingly in hospitals as well.”

“What we are doing at PSV is a concrete example of how AI is moving from reactive to predictive,” says Roy Jakobs, CEO of Royal Philips. “By detecting subtle changes in the body at an early stage, we may be able to stay ahead of overuse and illness. This is relevant to elite sports and healthcare. Similar algorithms are already being used in our hospital monitoring solutions to detect patient deterioration earlier and may help prevent ICU admissions. This collaboration with PSV allows us to further develop the technology and ultimately make better care possible for more people on a larger scale.”

An invisible opponent

The collaboration between Philips and PSV aims to strengthen PSV’s elite sports environment with innovations from health technology. PSV, for example, was the first football club in the Netherlands to use Philips’ mobile ultrasound device, Lumify, to perform triage on players.

Together with PSV, a campaign has been developed that shows how PSV not only battles opponents on the pitch but also infections that are often invisible. The campaign aims to demonstrate the potential of algorithms, data, and AI to predict health risks for players.