Fitbit claims doctors will prescribe smartwatches in future, as wearable technology diagnoses illnesses

SMARTWATCHES could become so good at detecting hidden medical problems in future that doctors could prescribe them to diagnose patients, Fitbit claims.

DOCTORS will prescribe smartwatches to patients instead of time in cardiac units and sleep labs in the near future, in a move that could save more lives and money, according Fitbit chief executive James Park.

The Fitbit co-founder, who is due to visit Australia this week, said the company’s upcoming smartwatch would introduce sensors to detect breathing impairments for the first time, and the firm was also trialling ways to use its heart-rate sensor to warn of increased-stroke risk.

But Fitbit will face serious competition from the world’s richest technology firm, Apple, which last week launched a smartwatch with detailed heart-rate tracking and its own internet connection.

Fitbit will launch its first smartwatch, the Ionic, in Australia next week.

The major wearable technology firm will release its first smartwatch, the $450 Fitbit Ionic, in Australian stores next week, and Mr Park told News Corp it had not just developed “a smartwatch for the sake of developing a smartwatch,” but to change the lives of its users.

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The watch will be the first device of its kind to feature an SpO2 sensor to measure oxygen in the wearer’s blood, he said, that could be used to diagnose sleep apnoea.

The medical condition, in which sufferers repeatedly stop breathing during sleep, affected up to 10 per cent of the population, Mr Park said, but up to most sufferers went undiagnosed ”primarily because the ways of diagnosing this condition are incredibly expensive and intrusive”.

“You might have to spend at least one night in a sleep lab wired up to different types of equipment,” he said.

“(This will) offer that sort of screening and diagnosis in a portable form factor that is way more convenient to wear and, hopefully in future, something doctors can prescribe to their patients if they suspect they have this condition.”

Mr Park said the company was also holding clinical trials to detect a heart condition called atrial fibrillation that often showed no symptoms but significantly increased the risk of stroke.

“What we’ve found is that using the heart-rate sensor on the Fitbit along with a pretty sophisticated algorithm, we have essentially a 98 per cent accuracy in detecting it with a less than one per cent false positive rate,” he said.

“Those are very early and preliminary results.”

Mr Park said the trial and new sensors was part of Fitbit’s transition from creating “nice-to-have products” to medically necessary devices.

A customer tries on an Apple Watch at an Apple store in San Francisco. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Josh Edelson

Fitbit faces stiff smartwatch competition, however, with Apple launching a 4G version of its Watch last week, and chief executive Tim Cook revealing it had become “the number one watch in the world”.

IDC Mobile Device Trackers senior research analyst Jitesh Ubrani said more consumers were upgrading to smartwatches from “rudimentary fitness trackers,” and health-tracking technology was among their biggest selling points.

“Equally important to device features will be the algorithms tracking workouts and providing health insights,” he said.

“There is growing interest from the medical industry to adopt wearables and consumer expectations are also on the rise.”

Worldwide smartwatch sales grew 10 per cent to 26.3 million devices between April and June, IDC found, while sales of basic fitness trackers dropped by almost one per cent.

Originally published as Fitbit claims doctors will prescribe smartwatches in future, as wearable technology diagnoses illnesses