Thryve & Cello: Using Wearables to Detect and Prevent Chronic Stress

Chronic stress is one of the most pervasive threats to long-term health, and one of the hardest to detect early. The Cello study is an ambitious research initiative that aims to change that, using wearable health data and intelligent coaching to move stress detection and management into everyday life.

At Thryve, we’re proud to support Cello with the infrastructure needed to collect, process, and interpret continuous health signals. Here’s how the study is redefining the science of stress prevention.

Study Partners

The Cello study is a collaborative research project conducted by four of Germany's leading academic institutions:

• University Hospital Tübingen (UK Tübingen) – serving as the primary site for the original field study, focused on validating stress biomarkers in everyday settings
• University Hospital Jena (UK Jena) – coordinating the continuation of field studies and the live test involving active stress coaching interventions
• University Hospital Rostock (UK Rostock) – contributing clinical oversight and patient recruitment for the live test phase
• Saarland University – supporting the development of AI-driven analysis models and behavioral science frameworks

The study is funded through the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of a national program advancing intelligent digital health solutions. It combines medical research, behavioral science, and technology integration to explore the future of proactive mental health care.

The Problem: Stress is a silent epidemic

Stress-related illnesses, including burnout, depression, sleep disorders, and cardiovascular complications, have reached critical levels across populations. In modern life, stress often accumulates in subtle but compounding ways, yet our clinical tools remain reactive, imprecise, and difficult to scale.

Traditional stress assessments rely heavily on subjective methods like questionnaires, self-reported diaries, or clinical interviews. These approaches provide only static snapshots of mental health and often miss the continuous fluctuations and early warning signs of stress overload.

Researchers in the Cello study were seeking to:

• Develop a continuous, real-time method for stress detection that fits into everyday routines
• Identify robust digital biomarkers—such as changes in heart rate variability (HRV), physical activity, or sleep patterns—that reflect mental and physiological stress states
• Create scalable tools that enable earlier, personalized coaching interventions to prevent stress from escalating into chronic illness

Achieving this required more than behavioral science alone. It demanded a comprehensive digital infrastructure to ingest, harmonize, and analyze high-frequency wearable data in a clinically meaningful and privacy-secure way.

The Solution: A multi-site, wearable-powered coaching platform

The Cello project is developing a stress management system that combines passive data collection from wearables with adaptive stress coaching.

The study is divided into several sub-projects:

• Cello Field Study (UK Tübingen)
  Focused on initial real-world validation of wearable-based stress markers
• Cello Field Study Continuation (UK Jena)
  A follow-up with extended cohorts and refined analysis
• Cello Live Test (UK Jena + UK Rostock)
  Live coaching and algorithm-driven feedback loops in action

Thryve supports these studies by providing:

• Seamless integration of high-frequency health data from wearables
• Secure, privacy-compliant data infrastructure (GDPR/HIPAA)
• Unified APIs for real-time physiological signals like heart rate variability, sleep quality, and physical activity
• Backend tooling for behavioral pattern detection and risk scoring

The Results: Toward scalable digital mental health support

While the study is ongoing, early results are promising. The Cello field study in Tübingen successfully demonstrated that:

• Physiological biomarkers such as HRV and activity patterns can predict perceived stress levels
• Continuous tracking enables the detection of stress progression before it manifests clinically
• Participants responded positively to the low-friction coaching interface, boosting engagement and adherence

Beyond academic outcomes, Cello lays the groundwork for scalable mental health solutions that can live in real-world applications, whether in health insurance apps, employer wellness platforms, or digital therapeutics.

Ready to power your next clinical study with real-world health data?

Book a demo with Thryve!

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