watchOS 9 May Introduce Atrial Fibrillation History Feature on Apple Watch

[MacRumors]

Ahead of WWDC 2022, Apple has received regulatory clearance from the FDA for a new atrial fibrillation history feature that is likely for the Apple Watch, according to a 510(k) filing spotted by MyHealthyApple, a website dedicated to wearable devices.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in April reported that Apple was planning to improve the Apple Watch's existing atrial fibrillation detection feature in the ECG app with a new capability to measure how long a person is in a state of atrial fibrillation across a certain period, known as a "burden." Gurman had said the feature could debut as part of watchOS 9, which is expected to be announced today during Apple's opening keynote at WWDC 2022.

The ECG app is available on the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer, excluding the Apple Watch SE. The app records an electrocardiogram to see if the upper and lower chambers of your heart are in rhythm, according to Apple. An irregular rhythm could be atrial fibrillation (AFib).

Apple's keynote begins at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with other announcements expected to include iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, tvOS 16, and possibly some new hardware, with rumors suggesting that a redesigned MacBook Air could be unveiled. Stay tuned to MacRumors.com for complete coverage of WWDC and follow @MacRumorsLive on Twitter.

Article Link: watchOS 9 May Introduce Atrial Fibrillation History Feature on Apple Watch

 

[jav6454]

Doesn't the Health app on the iPhone keep a history on these already?

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Awesome. As Tim said Apple’s greatest contributions will be in healthcare. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels will be the ultimate.

 

[syklee26]

The real breakthrough of Apple Watch will be blood sugar monitoring, which would make Apple Watch the go-to gear for diabetics.

 

[Total Respray]

Great if true, but I hope they don’t arbitrarily restrict it to the latest devices only.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Doesn't the Health app on the iPhone keep a history on these already?

Yes, it does

 

[jav6454]

Yes, it does

Then, am I missing something? Unless Apple is thinking of making the history more encompassing.

 

[LogicalApex]

Doesn't the Health app on the iPhone keep a history on these already?

No, it doesn’t.

This change would track how long an event lasts not just the event occurring. The current history feature in Health tracks event history, but not duration.

 

[jav6454]

No, it doesn’t.

This change would track how long an event lasts not just the event occurring. The current history feature in Health tracks event history, but not duration.

Duration would involve continuous monitoring, which we know no current watch can do.

 

[_Spinn_]

Very cool! I can't wait to see what else is coming to the Apple Watch.

 

[JPark]

This would really help my wife out. She’s been experiencing these sporadically for long durations. Because they’re so sporadic (most of the day for maybe 5 days a month), it’s been very hard to accurately measure the burden. The current methodology is to rent a holter monitor from the cardiologist, but since she doesn’t know when they’ll happen next that isn’t very helpful.

 

[LogicalApex]

Duration would involve continuous monitoring, which we know no current watch can do.

That’s what makes the new feature new… If it gets launched.

 

[jav6454]

That’s what makes the new feature new… If it gets launched.

My point was more towards new hardware feature quite possible.

 

[scrapesleon]

So we getting a 128 gig Apple Watch