Apple Watch closer to heart of the matter

Apple’s decision to seek formal medical approval for heart rate monitoring on Apple Watch is a game changer.

Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, at Watch Series 4 launch last week. Picture: AP

Apple’s decision to seek formal medical approval for heart rate monitoring on Apple Watch is a game changer as to what these smart watches do.

Communication, activity monitoring and music listening have been mainstays for wearables.

Now Apple is adding serious health monitoring with new software and a second heart rate ­sensor.

There’s always been a heart rate monitor since Apple Watch’s original release. An optical heart rate sensor on the bottom of the watch detects the red blood cells flowing through your wrist. It already offers high heart rate notifications and is used for calculating calories burned.

A software update will enable Watch to alert users about low heartbeat rates as well. Apple says this can signify something untoward.

Secondly, the optical sensor will be able to detect irregularities in your heartbeat that could represent atrial fibrillation. The heart may quiver rather than beat normally, and the upper and lower chambers could be out of sync.

Apple has obtained US Food and Drug Administration approval of this detection feature, which will be rolled out to US users later this year. It won’t be available to Australians until formal approval is granted here.

But it sees the optical heart monitor offering resting and activity heart rates, low and high heart rate detection and atrial fibrillation detection on existing and new Apple Watches.

There is, however, more.

The Apple Watch Series 4 includes a second, electronic heart sensor that can measure the heart’s electrical signals and produce an electrocardiogram on ­demand.

The watch achieves this by getting you to complete an electrical circuit that runs across your chest. You place the index finger of the opposite hand on the watch digital crown, which now includes a titanium electrode, for about 30 seconds. The electrical circuit runs down your arm to the opposite arm where you wear the watch. It’s completed by two electrodes on the base of the watch comprising a chromium silicon carbon nitride layer attached to the watch’s sapphire crystal window.

The result is an ECG classification such as sinus rhythm, which means the heart is beating regularly, or atrial fibrillation.

The iPhone health app can export an ECG as a PDF file and send it to a healthcare provider. The process is controlled through a new ECG app.

Again, Apple has sought and obtained FDA approval for ECG classification and again, the US will be the first market to have it. Australian approval will be required here.

There is a risk that such detailed heart monitoring might increase people’s anxiety and result in unnecessary visits to doctors. Conversely, the capability might prove lifesaving.

Apple also offers fall detection on the Watch Series 4 through an upgrade to the device’s accelerometer and gyroscope. It says the watch can detect the difference between a fall and a slip by monitoring whether your hands fall sideways or out in front.

The watch will display a notification for 60 seconds, asking you whether you want to notify emergency services through a predesignated number or not. If you don’t respond it will call your emergency number automatically. Apple says the delay gives users time to respond and avoid making unnecessary calls for emergency help.

Chris Griffith travelled to Apple’s launch at Cupertino courtesy of Apple.

Apple adds medical monitoring to Apple Watch capability.