Apple intends to add many new health features to its Apple Watch. Among these innovations are monitoring blood pressure trends, a thermometer to track fertility and sleep, sleep apnea detection (a breathing disorder in which a sleeping person stops breathing for some periods) and diabetes detection.
Sources, who claim to be familiar with Apple’s plans and have access to internal company documentation, detailed the Wall Street Journal about the development of many new health tracking features on the Apple Watch. However, most of these new features are expected to arrive no earlier than 2022.
Apple is reportedly considering adding a thermometer to Apple Watch for health monitoring only next year. The thermometer functions are ostensibly designed to track fertility to give women a better idea of their ovulation cycle. The thermometer will also improve the identification of patterns in sleep tracking. In the future, it is also planned that this sensor will detect when the user has a high body temperature.
The blood pressure monitoring function will detect when the pressure is high and can detect the presence of hypertension. Apple planned to launch this feature next year, but has struggled to improve it.
Unlike conventional methods of measuring blood pressure using an inflatable cuff, Apple’s system measures the speed of the heartbeat wave through the user’s arteries using sensors. Thus, the Apple Watch will be able to show the user how his blood pressure is changing, but will not be able to provide a baseline measurement of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which raises questions about the usefulness of this feature. It is also reported that Apple is allegedly investigating blood pressure monitoring with an optional cuffless device.
The Cupertino-based company is reportedly planning to implement sleep apnea detection with an existing blood oxygen sensor. However, there were problems with the accelerated discharge of the battery with a fairly frequent reading. Apple also intends to provide medical advice when the Apple Watch detects low blood oxygen levels.
Plans to bring diabetes detection to Apple Watch are also underway. But the company has run into problems with non-invasive blood glucose measurement and is trying to make progress in this area. Apple is working with the National University of Singapore on a research project that aims to provide lifestyle education for people with pre-diabetic conditions using third-party blood glucose meters.
It is noted that these new health monitoring features using the Apple Watch are currently being studied and developed, but not yet completed. Ultimately, Apple may postpone or cancel them altogether.
Additionally, Apple is actively working with the US Food and Drug Administration to approve a number of updates to existing Apple Watch models. One of these updates will allow people with atrial fibrillation to use the Apple Watch to track their condition over time. Another update will allow Apple Watch to alert users when blood oxygen levels are low.
A source: macrumors
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