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Apple Watch Likely to Gain Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, and Blood Alcohol Monitoring
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Hopefully I'm wrong but I worry about the BAC monitor in that I could see people push the limit of their own BAC when it comes to driving. "Oh, I'm only at .05. I was going to stop but I can have one more drink and still be legal."
In real life home-based continuous blood pressure monitors require calibration before use, and periodic calibration by a trained staffer. So they work, mostly. The thing is, doing BP is so error-prone that "casual" readings are probably off the mark anyway...but they're probably self-consistent.
Existing glucometers are not terribly accurate. It will be a massive game changer if the Apple Watch comes close to existing meters. I’m hoping they will find a way to be MORE accurate. No more finger sticks or dropping loads of cash on test strips? Sign me up. I will pay a $1,000 for that Apple Watch.
Portable Breath Test.
Also known as a breathalyzer or by it's trade name Intoximeter.
These are breath based devices that require regular calibration using baseline samples to produce accurate calculations of BAC. In some jurisdictions under certain circumstances, the Courts have taken judicial notice of the accuracy of properly calculated devices as evidentiary in their results. Others use it as an establishment of probable cause for a warrant to extract blood when combined with other indicators of intoxication. It depends on the jurisdiction and circumstances.
Post conviction justice involved individuals are often subject to zero tolerance no alcohol restrictions when their offense involved being intoxicated. So when someone is zero tolerance, and blows a .22 at 8 PM on a Friday night, it's usually a good bet they violated that restriction. Calibration or not.
If Apple managed to include all of that and have it work reliably it would probably make the Apple Watch more valuable than the iPhone. It would become indispensable to health monitoring.
But I have huge reservations that it's actually possible to implement with any real accuracy whilst being non-invasive. At most it would be an inaccurate party trick. I would love to be proven wrong.
My S6 O2 saturation monitoring is questionable at best after comparing it to an oximeter. The only health parts that really works well is relating to your pulse and movement.
But I have huge reservations that it's actually possible to implement with any real accuracy whilst being non-invasive. At most it would be an inaccurate party trick. I would love to be proven wrong.
My S6 O2 saturation monitoring is questionable at best after comparing it to an oximeter. The only health parts that really works well is relating to your pulse and movement.
Apple itself says the O2 saturation monitoring is an inaccurate party trick:
Apple said:
The ECG works well though, but that requires user intervention, since you need the second lead.
I hate to say it but if you need all 3 of these monitoring capabilities you also need a lifestyle change real bad!
To me the key aspect is the ”doctor’s office effect.” When I take my blood pressure it raises because I am worried about my blood pressure. If the watch could randomly take readings throughout the day when I don’t know it’s happening, it could be very helpful
In some places there is no limit.
0.08 automatic
0.05 conditional
0.01 possible
So having 0.05 and feeling tired is not hard to image and could get you charged in many places.
If Apple manages to successfully add all 3 of these monitoring capabilities, imagine the number of watches they will sell to people who suffer from Diabetes and HBP. The amount of folks in the USA who have both conditions is extremely high and getting higher due to our high-fat diet in this country. Also, many older people suffer from these conditions who otherwise would not buy an Apple Watch will suddenly purchase one. The money saved from not needing to purchase diabetes testing supplies and HBP monitoring supplies on a fixed income would make the Apple Watch an absolutely needed and life-sustaining device.
HBP monitoring supplies? A blood pressure monitor is a LOT cheaper than an apple watch, and it is not consumable.
You'd be surprised at how many people use health monitoring for body/exercise optimization. It surprised me...people keep detailed logs of stuff and try to figure out what's best for them.