Apple wants to add a blood pressure monitor to its Apple Watch. While the development of this blood pressure sensor encounters obstacles, a patent reveals part of the company’s plans and ambitions.
For several years, Apple has been working on a blood pressure measurement tool for the Apple Watch. Thanks to a series of sensors and algorithms, the Cupertino giant wants to be able to provide an accurate reading of users’ blood pressure. The tensiometer will be added with multiple health features already incorporated on the connected watch, such as the oximeter, the electrocardiogram and the cardiac monitor.
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This is how the blood pressure monitor might work
While a wide range of Apple Watches have just hit the market, a patent filed by Apple has just been approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, reports Patently Apple. This patent describes an Apple Watch strap designed to assess the wearer’s blood pressure.
According to the diagrams posted online, this bracelet is full of ” pressure sensing devices “. In contact with the wearer’s wrist, these sensors are able to determine a host of parameters, such as systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure and the variability of blood pressure in the arteries.
Unsurprisingly, Apple is looking to develop a measurement system the least restrictive possible. To work, the bracelet should not swell like a traditional tensiometer. The accessory is not described as a restriction system, but a pressure one. It seems that the bracelet will still have to apply a certain pressure on the wrist of the user. However, the pressure exerted is less than that of an inflatable armband, which is quickly uncomfortable.
During the process, sensors will detect changes in pressure in nearby blood vessels. The device focuses mainly on pressure wave velocity. This indicator corresponds to the speed at which a wave, generated by the pressure exerted by the bracelet, propagates along a vein or an artery.
This is one of the clues that can detect arterial stiffness, a warning sign of cardiovascular disorders. If the arteries are stiff, the wave propagation speed will be higher. Mirroring its rival Samsung, Apple wants to rely on pulse waves to calculate the blood pressure in the veins. The Galaxy Watch indeed embed a measurement system based on these waves. This determines the speed of propagation thanks to the heart rate monitor.
At the same time, Apple has also worked on a more classic system. In it, the user must place an inflatable armband around his arm. Readings from the device, connected wirelessly, are sent directly to the Apple Watch or iPhone. This system, very similar to blood pressure monitors already on the market, looks more like yet another connected object for health than a function for the Apple Watch.
This is far from the first time that Apple has patented technology to measure the blood pressure of Apple Watch wearers. Over the past four years, the giant has filed a plethora of different patents in the US court.
No tensiometer before 2024?
Despite all these patents, Apple seems to encounter obstacles in the development of the tool. Last April, Bloomberg reported that the developed blood pressure monitor was found to be too inaccurate. Apparently the sensor was only able to identify high blood pressure. It was not possible to precisely measure the pressure in the arteries, as with a medical device.
The latest news, the Apple Watch would not be entitled to a blood pressure sensor before 2024, or even 2025. We imagine that the connected blood pressure monitor could make its debut on the hypothetical Apple Watch 10, or on a new generation of Apple Watch Ultra.
With this future sensor, the Californian giant would catch up falling behind the competition. As mentioned above, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 are indeed equipped with a blood pressure monitor. This is also the case with the Huawei Watch D.
Patently Apple
