Apple Watch Series 11 Introduces AI-Powered High Blood Pressure Alert, Notifies Users Without Measurement

Apple has launched the latest Apple Watch Series 11 on September 19 that includes an alert to notify the wearer if they have high blood pressure using artificial intelligence rather than blood pressure.

Sumbul Ahmad Desai, Apple's vice president of health told Reuters that the notification feature will work with models back to the Apple Watch Series 9, came about from applying AI models to existing sensor data.

According to a 2023 report by the World Health Organisation, about 4 out of every 5 people with hypertension, also known as the silent killed. These undiagnosed cases are not adequately treated, but if countries can scale up coverage, 76 million deaths could be averted between 2023 and 2050. Affecting 1 in 3 adults worldwide, this common deadly condition leads to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney damage and many other health problems.

As the sphygmomanometer, a device traditionally used for measuring blood pressure is only found at hospitals, many of the cases go unreported due to lack of visible symptoms. Keeping this in mind, Apple used AI to sort through the data from 100,000 people enrolled in a heart and movement study it launched in 2019. The study was launch to check whether it could find features in the signal data from the watch's main heart-related sensor that it could then match up with traditional blood pressure measurements, reported Reuters.

The report further clarified that the feature has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. The system does not measure directly but notifies the users that they may have high blood pressure and nudges them to use a cuff to measure it and consult a doctor for its treatment.

Ami Bhatt, chief innovation officer of the American College of Cardiology told Reuters that this feature is expected to help people discover high blood pressure early and reduce related conditions such as heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease. Apple intends to roll out the feature to over 150 countries.

How the Feature Works

According to Business Standard, the Apple watch analyses the changes in blood volume as heart beats. These are detected using the light sensor on the back of the watch. Upon detecting significant change in blood flow using the sensor and the embedded algorithm, the user gets an alert that they may have high blood pressure.

The catch here is that this analysis is achieved without tying a conventional sphygmomanometer that tightens the arm. Reports say that the watch will not directly project any blood pressure numbers straight from the Apple Watch.