KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — It’s a big day for Apple Watch users in Malaysia as the latest watchOS 7.5 update finally adds the ECG app that will give the watch the ability to detect irregular heartbeats.
While the Apple Watch had long had an optical heart sensor that could detect heat rates, the ECG functionality was only added in 2018.
Apple made ECG readings possible on the watch by adding a titanium electrode embedded into the device’s Digital Crown alongside a layer of chromium silicon carbon nitride on the watch’s back.
Long road to ECG
Since its announcement, the ECG app had been steadily rolled out to various countries but Malaysia has only had it go “live” on the latest software update on May 25.
The update has taken a long time coming to Malaysia as the ECG functionality is one that needs to be approved by Malaysia’s own Medical Device Authority (MDA).
Speaking to Apple’s vice-president for health Dr Sumbul Desai about the regulatory process, she said that Apple oversees its own internal regulatory team to facilitate the approval of tech such as the ECG app.
“We basically work with the regulatory authorities. So we do all of the clinical validation and science, which means that we have to have studies on the accuracy of the work; we have to compare it to ground truth.”
Desai said that the company needed to be clear in its position on what the ECG app was intended to do and just as importantly, what it was not meant to do.
After that, it was a matter of going through the standard regulatory approval process, which would differ from country to country.
Not meant to replace diagnosis
Recent data from the Pacing and Electrophysiology Journal in 2019 (link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/
When asked on where the Apple Watch stood in light of such findings, Desai said, “What the data shows so far is that the Apple Watch is a good example of that. From a medicine standpoint, single-lead is sufficient to pick up atrial fibrillation, that’s how it’s done in the medical community in certain settings.”
Desai was quick to add that Apple’s aim was not to provide diagnosis. “We’re just providing information for a diagnosis to be done. We still recommend that you go to your physician and have that done through a traditional ECG.”
She, however, agreed that it was correct that single ECG devices have some ability to pick up atrial fibrillation, “Which is why we’ve leveraged atrial fibrillation as one of the areas that we use this capability.”
With the tendency of some people being over reliant on self-diagnosis via the Internet, what did the doctor think about where the line is as far as health self-empowerment is concerned?
“Well, it’s a great question, because I’m a doctor,” said Desai. “I’m a big believer in empowering the user with more information so that they can go have a more thorough and educated conversation with their doctor, and leverage technology to provide more of a snapshot of an individual’s life as they live their everyday life.”
Having that additional information, Desai said, means doctors can be more accurate and thoughtful in terms of how they want to proceed with their patients.
“So we really are, I think, empowering not only the user, but also the physician and really empowering the relationship between the physician and patient. And that’s what we’re excited about. We think it’s really important when it comes to diagnosis that you follow the traditional pathways for diagnosis as you would for any condition and really work with your physician to do that.”
All about empowerment
“I think at Apple, we’re really focused on, again, empowering the user with information,” said Desai. “And we think it’s really powerful when the same watch that users even listen to music on can communicate with your loved one, can measure how many steps you’ve walked, can also tell you information about your health.”
She said that in comparison to a regular heart rate monitor, because of all the Watch’s extra functionality, users would be more likely to wear it.
By the simple act of keeping their watch on, Desai said “This gives us an opportunity to provide more insights to the user about their health and then use that information to be more engaged by about their health, be more empowered on their health, and also help us research more how this data could actually have impact from an overall health benefit.”
Desai said it went more than just “throwing technology over the wall” to the medical community. “We believe in researching and collaborating with them, and making sure that whatever work we do is grounded in science and evidence.”
On finally getting the ECG to Malaysian customers, Desai said: “We’re really excited to come to the Malaysian market. We’ve heard from many of our customers across the world about how much this has been helpful to them… and so we’re hoping to have more impact with our customers, and really looking forward to the stories from customers in Malaysia and how this has helped them.”
She added: “Please do share them with us because they’re what really motivates all of our work to make sure that we are having an impact on our users and our customers.”
As to Apple’s wellness plans in future, Desai only said, “We’re excited about the health space and wherever we can have an impact.”
The ECG app is now “live” on Apple Watches (Series 4, Series 5 and Series 6) updated to WatchOS7.5. Do take note that the Apple Watch SE does not support the ECG app and you need to first update your iOS version on your iPhone to version 14.6.
