Rumored 'Healthbook' App for iOS 8 Suggests Significant Health Component to iWatch

[MattMak]

Reading this rumor was painful. Hydration? Glucose? Non-invasive blood pressure? All of this in a watch? It would be cool and all, and who knows where this will take us further down the road, but there's one little problem... Nobody has invented an accurate way of measuring all this from your wrist. And of all the companies in the world, Apple definitely didn't come to mind.

So no thank you, Apple. I think I'll be sticking to my stethoscope and BP cuff for the time being.

 

[Serban]

They really should fix the bugs in iOS7 (5 months + without a .1 update nor any significant bug squashing) before they busy themselves with iOS8.

So pissed off with Safari crashes, reboots and those stupid slow unlock animations.

iOS8 will not be knew, just an improved iOS7.
i think in late february iOS7.1 will be released with some bug fixed, that slow animations

 

[n-evo]

Disappointing and Apple have become synonymous as of late.

That's because it's impossible to please a certain group of people. Anyway, you're welcome to switch away to another platform. Of course it will become just as disappointing once the novelty wears off.

Good luck with being disappointed all the time!

 

[iLondoner]

You should buy a regular glucose meter from Lifescan or Abbot. You can buy them at a chemist or a supermarket. No need for doctors (although a consultation is recommended). Measure about 5 times a day and keep a log to present to the doctor after a number of weeks.

Glucose monitoring will not be a functionality of the product that might be introduced this year. Non invasive monitoring is not yet accurate enough and will need a number of years to become accurate enough. Traditional glucose monitoring needs lancets to puncture your finger and it is very unlikely that Apple will go with that technology.

Many thanks for the above post and your subsequent PM. I've taken your advice and ordered a glucose monitoring system.

Tim

 

[flottenheimer]

What a leak! (If any of it holds true).

And the name —iWatch— will have so much more meaning if it will allow you to watch you heart rate, watch your glucose level, watch out for dehydration, watch where you go ... and oh, watch time as well. Say Hello to, iWatch.

If I like the physical design of the iWatch I'll buy one. Apple being able to get personal jewellery right, is the area that worries me the most (since I don't fancy watches that are overly simplistic).

 

[Sirious]

I am really sure that this app will be specific to devices with the M7 chip. (duh!)

 

[Abazigal]

Reading this rumor was painful. Hydration? Glucose? Non-invasive blood pressure? All of this in a watch? It would be cool and all, and who knows where this will take us further down the road, but there's one little problem... Nobody has invented an accurate way of measuring all this from your wrist. And of all the companies in the world, Apple definitely didn't come to mind.

So no thank you, Apple. I think I'll be sticking to my stethoscope and BP cuff for the time being.

Has it occurred to you that maybe the reason why no one has invented it yet is because the technology doesn't yet exist? Which is why the iWatch hasn't yet been released either - because the technology simply isn't there. That could be precisely what Apple is waiting for - for the required technology to be ready so they can then incorporate it into their product. Hence the delay.

As someone mentioned, it doesn't have to be 100%, just accurate enough to track changes in your vitals over time, so you can watch out for any anomalies or spikes, and react accordingly. I doubt the band will replace a good, old-fashioned checkup at your family doctor.

 

[peterdevries]

Please, please refine iOS7 FIRST.

Do you really think there is only 1 person working at Apple?

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As someone mentioned, it doesn't have to be 100%, just accurate enough to track changes in your vitals over time, so you can watch out for any anomalies or spikes, and react accordingly.

You and the other person absolutely wrong. Each device that monitors functions such as blood glucose, pressure or other functions needs to certified as to avoid patients making decision on inaccurate measurements. Look for the CE mark on heart rate monitors etc. The accuracy requirements for blood pressure and glucose monitoring are even higher than those for HRM belts.

 

[Abazigal]

Do you really think there is only 1 person working at Apple?

----------



You and the other person absolutely wrong. Each device that monitors functions such as blood glucose, pressure or other functions needs to certified as to avoid patients making decision on inaccurate measurements. Look for the CE mark on heart rate monitors etc. The accuracy requirements for blood pressure and glucose monitoring are even higher than those for HRM belts.

Hmm...if a law does exist on that, then, yes, I have misspoke. Pardon my ignorance in this regard then.

 

[peterdevries]

Hmm...if a law does exist on that, then, yes, I have misspoke. Pardon my ignorance in this regard then.

Before any company puts such a product on the market it is required to get FDA and EMA approval. That is most certainly the reason why Apple met with the FDA last year as The Verge just reported.

 

[Piggie]

What Apple will show in Adverts:
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_k-medium/184k38tvuadyjjpg.jpg

Reality:
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/media/blogs/blog/24/fat_american_familys.jpg

 

[username:]

They really should fix the bugs in iOS7 (5 months + without a .1 update nor any significant bug squashing) before they busy themselves with iOS8.

So pissed off with Safari crashes, reboots and those stupid slow unlock animations.

I've never had any of those problems. ios 7 has been great for me. You know you can turn off animations right?

 

[johngordon]

If you cared about your health you'd exercise. Don't need a $200 watch to help you with this. Yes, those things are useless, but they don't increase the cost of the product. Myfitnesspal or whatever its called works perfectly for most people.

I've been using MyFitnessPal, along with Fitbit, this month to help keep track of what I'm eating, and how much I'm exercising.

I've found it pretty useful to use the apps and see all the data, along with progress. It actually has proved more motivational for me to see the data, and help become aware of how much to food and how much exercise has an effect on the figures.

So far I've been using my 5S rather than a separate tracker, but have been considering a Fitbit tracker, just because I'd have it on all the time, and would save carrying my phone when out running or at the gym.

So long story short, if Apple were to do a watch type device, I for one am glad to see them going down the fitness route rather than just an extension to the phone, it will actually be better than a phone at particular tasks, rather then worse than the phone at particular tasks - e.g. taking photos, sending texts etc that the Galaxy Gear touted.

There's no way I'd be interested in something like a Galaxy Gear, but something like the Fitbit Force, with Apple's design touch, I could be sold on. (I actually quite like the look of the new Sony one.)

 

[Bevz]

this iwatch gets more and more exciting with every rumor, i can't wait!

I agree, been quite excited reading all the rumours lately about a major health element to the iWatch, it just makes perfect sense to me, although i am in my 40's now so a heart monitor suddenly seems like a good idea! LOL

 

[wagawagawoowoo]

hows this for a mass market use?

Many are saying health related functions don't appeal to the mass market.
How about built in ECG (or EKG for our american cousins)
The watch constantly monitors my ECG, If I have a heart attack and go into VF arrest, the watch tells the iPhone to ring 999 (911) and call for an ambulance with a defib telling them your location.
Version 2 sends out a signal to all iPhones in the vicinity of the collapsed person saying someone has collapsed showing their location and shows them they location of the nearest Defib asking them to help - on arrival at scene it starts showing CPR instructions. *Might* save lives.
Version 3 - only if it detects you have collapsed - broadcasts ?bluetooth wifi etc your emergency medical details e.g. drugs. allergies signif history to a medic looking after you e.g. severe analphlaxis - give adrenaline (epinephrine)
Version 4 goes one step further - a lot of medications have a bad effect on the ECG and a lot are on meds - and so it monitors the QTc interval and perhaps looks out for R on T phenomena and warns you that you are about to have a heart attack showing you the way to the nearest ER.
There is a question of whether you would get enough info from a single lead ECG - you might need to have something on both wrists.
Most of these work best in a mass market ok not to 18 year olds but anyone over 45 or on meds might be interested.
There are other ideas for health related wearables but they are probably more related to specialist devices - Potassium monitoring, Pulse Oxygenation monitoring, 24 hr ECG, Carido memo. I wonder if the market isn't to have all the sensors in the watch but to have the watch act as the computer / central hub for devices and use the iPhone for location, environmental factors and comms.

----------

Reading this rumor was painful. Hydration? Glucose? Non-invasive blood pressure? All of this in a watch? It would be cool and all, and who knows where this will take us further down the road, but there's one little problem... Nobody has invented an accurate way of measuring all this from your wrist. And of all the companies in the world, Apple definitely didn't come to mind.

So no thank you, Apple. I think I'll be sticking to my stethoscope and BP cuff for the time being.

Well, hydration is just measured from skin conductivity 2 electrodes is all you need.
Glucose - sorry but there are already continuous monitoring devices that you wear on your arm - they effectively pull the glucose out of your skin and measure it - i.e. needle less - not cheap at moment and quite specialised.
BP is difficult without a cuff to occlude the artery - and afiak no one is talking about the watch having an inflatable cuff, however my understanding they have hiring people expert in infrared detection of veins, well if you can find veins and arteries, you can certainly measure Oxygen Sat, pulse, and you might be able to measure some form of pressure - id need to look this up.
Ok - accuracy might be an issue, but thats just a case of money.
whether they do any of this is doubtful - again i think its more likely to act as a hub for other devices.

 

[mdelvecchio]

More data for the NSA. Thank you, Apple!

per Cook, NSA has no hooks into apple data. the only way they can get your data is with access to your phone or app backends.

----------

Disappointing and Apple have become synonymous as of late.

says you. I've been thrilled with my new apple products. they offer value to me and make my job easier.

----------

Oh boy, another app I can't delete. Newsstand, meet healthbook.

wouldn't it be more fair to compare it to Passbook? I use Passbook every time I travel. I used with AAA for a new car battery two weeks ago.

 

[Teste]

Clearly it isn't meant to diagnose health conditions, but it is likely to create more stress and anxiety by quantifying all kinds of obscure statistics that the general population don't fully understand.

Worse, it's likely not going to be very accurate. Heart rate and oxygen saturation could be measured easily through the skin, but blood pressure isn't so easy to measure (the most accurate ways still rely on inflating a device at the person's arm, and require calibration once in a while). Measuring glucose levels without spilling blood isn't very accurate right now.

I would love a tricorder. But our current technology is, unfortunately, very far from achieving one.

 

[mdelvecchio]

this is going to be a very big failure.
There is a subset of people who would care for this (Lululemon people) and its a small population.

you'd better get Cook on the horn and let him know the bad news. if only they had heeded the similar warnings about the Mac, iPhone, and iPad all being failures, just think where they would be today.

oops.

----------

it has the potential to also do much damage to people's lives.

Clearly it isn't meant to diagnose health conditions, but it is likely to create more stress and anxiety by quantifying all kinds of obscure statistics that the general population don't fully understand.

the poor, poor unwashed masses. we aren't equipped to deal with data like you are. we will only stress out and then die.

yyyyeah....

----------

Not Funny!

FAIL

your post is a fail, because his wasn't a joke.

----------

So no thank you, Apple. I think I'll be sticking to my stethoscope and BP cuff for the time being.

only a fool would make a decision based on a third-party rumor. this isn't even a real product yet.

----------

I've never had any of those problems. ios 7 has been great for me.

my 5s does periodically reboot itself, and safari on an iPad air crashes nearly every session. it's disappointing that this happens, since I sell the system to my family as worry-free.

 

[LostSoul80]

Shut up and take my money!

Oh please Apple, make this. And make it good. Pleeeeease.

You can donate money to Apple to let them accelerate the development.

 

[BenTrovato]

It's a brilliant move. Google buys nest to get into your home, Apple buys tech to get into your body. This is the future. Imagine when insurance companies get their hands on this data and start denying claims because someone had months(years) of symptoms to get their diabetes under control and did not.

 

[speedyvespa]

I can understand these measurements for diabetics or folks with blood pressure issues, etc.

But is this really appealing to folks that don't have any real health issues? Don't get me wrong, this is all pretty cool, especially if iWatch can do all this. But as a normal, healthy adult, I see this more as a novelty than anything. Measurements are all fine and dandy but what do I need them for? Just simple health tracking?? There's already a ton of things that do this.

I can't see iWatch being geared to a niche market. So beyond this, obvious notifications, what else is gonna be used for?

We can all speculate but I anxiously await Apple's move into wearables.

Knowing glucose / blood sugar levels is critical for athletes. I'm a cyclist, and being warned when my sugar level is dropping would prompt me to take a gel pack. Usually you only realise when it's too late and your energy crashes. It would give me a big advantage on long races.

 

[Ugg]

this iwatch gets more and more exciting with every rumor, i can't wait!

I agree. I think the health aspect of the iWatch will be incredible. Being able to tailor medications to a person's individual needs would be an enormous benefit.

 

[Four oF NINE]

I don't spend my life obsessing about my health. Just not my thing.

 

[Ugg]

Many are saying health related functions don't appeal to the mass market.
How about built in ECG (or EKG for our american cousins)
The watch constantly monitors my ECG, If I have a heart attack and go into VF arrest, the watch tells the iPhone to ring 999 (911) and call for an ambulance with a defib telling them your location.
Version 2 sends out a signal to all iPhones in the vicinity of the collapsed person saying someone has collapsed showing their location and shows them they location of the nearest Defib asking them to help - on arrival at scene it starts showing CPR instructions. *Might* save lives.
Version 3 - only if it detects you have collapsed - broadcasts ?bluetooth wifi etc your emergency medical details e.g. drugs. allergies signif history to a medic looking after you e.g. severe analphlaxis - give adrenaline (epinephrine)
Version 4 goes one step further - a lot of medications have a bad effect on the ECG and a lot are on meds - and so it monitors the QTc interval and perhaps looks out for R on T phenomena and warns you that you are about to have a heart attack showing you the way to the nearest ER.
There is a question of whether you would get enough info from a single lead ECG - you might need to have something on both wrists.
Most of these work best in a mass market ok not to 18 year olds but anyone over 45 or on meds might be interested.
There are other ideas for health related wearables but they are probably more related to specialist devices - Potassium monitoring, Pulse Oxygenation monitoring, 24 hr ECG, Carido memo. I wonder if the market isn't to have all the sensors in the watch but to have the watch act as the computer / central hub for devices and use the iPhone for location, environmental factors and comms.

----------



Well, hydration is just measured from skin conductivity 2 electrodes is all you need.
Glucose - sorry but there are already continuous monitoring devices that you wear on your arm - they effectively pull the glucose out of your skin and measure it - i.e. needle less - not cheap at moment and quite specialised.
BP is difficult without a cuff to occlude the artery - and afiak no one is talking about the watch having an inflatable cuff, however my understanding they have hiring people expert in infrared detection of veins, well if you can find veins and arteries, you can certainly measure Oxygen Sat, pulse, and you might be able to measure some form of pressure - id need to look this up.
Ok - accuracy might be an issue, but thats just a case of money.
whether they do any of this is doubtful - again i think its more likely to act as a hub for other devices.

My Dad's pacemaker has wireless capabilities, (bluetooth?) and sends info to a little box attached to the phone line which then transmits it to his doctor. Couldn't we somehow have an implantable device which measures BP, etc? Maybe not for everyone but for those with health issues that need monitoring.

 

[wagawagawoowoo]

My Dad's pacemaker has wireless capabilities, (bluetooth?) and sends info to a little box attached to the phone line which then transmits it to his doctor. Couldn't we somehow have an implantable device which measures BP, etc? Maybe not for everyone but for those with health issues that need monitoring.

i wouldn't get obsessed by blood pressure - its just one measure - albeit historically an important one - however i remember when i did my GenMed rotation (almost 20 years ago) one of the cardiologists was doing a PhD on arterial wall stiffness and he was claiming back then that it was a better predictor of cardiovascular disease - I'm sure things have moved on.. i can imagine ultrasound measurement of pulse wave perhaps in the presence of a known vibration might give some useful parameters.

It would be just like Apple to try and get rid of BP as a measure and replace it with something better - how cool would that be - so long flash...

actually being serious -
http://www.medgadget.com/2013/06/blood-pressure-wristband.html
has a bp measuring watch based on surface pressure transducers. I found this on goolge in 2mins - I'm sure Apple could find a lot more..

Again I can see multiple sensors some wearable, some implantable all speaking to a hub as the way forward - not sure this needs to be an iWatch though. Just an iPad.