Just hours before the opening keynote of WWDC 2022, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Apple approval for a new health feature on the Apple Watch. According to documents released on Monday, Apple is working on a new Afib feature for the Apple Watch.
Like My Healthy Apple reported, the FDA's 510(k) clearance allows the company to use the Apple Watch to track the user's atrial fibrillation history as part of the ECG app. Currently, the ECG app can only detect atrial fibrillation (a type of irregular heart rhythm) between 50 and 150 BPM. In some countries, the ECG app can only detect Afib between 50 and 120 BPM. However, with the new clearance, Apple could add a new feature for even more accurate analysis of atrial fibrillation.
watchOS 9 could get new health feature
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported that watchOS 9 will support "atrial fibrillation detection," the ability to monitor how often a user experiences atrial fibrillation over a given period. This process is typically based on data collected over a 14-day period. It's unclear whether the new atrial fibrillation monitoring feature will be unveiled as part of watchOS 9 later this evening or whether Apple will save it for the next-generation Apple Watch this fall. (Photo by DenPhoto / Bigstockphoto)
