Report: Apple's 'iWatch' To Monitor Blood Oxygen Levels And Heart Rate

There’s more news about Apple’s “iWatch.” Electronics industry analyst Sun Chang Xu says that Cupertino’s long-rumored wearable device may monitor heart rate and blood oxygen levels. However, “inaccuracy” has caused Apple to shelve plans to add blood glucose monitoring to the device, according to China's Electrical Engineering Times. As AppleInsider first noted, Apple’s iWatch is likely to use optoelectronics to monitor both blood oxygen levels and heart rate. They state:

Using optoelectronics for monitoring blood oxygen levels is a process known as pulse oximetry. Pulse oximeters — usually seen as clothesepin-like devices clipped to the end of a person's finger — use visible red and infrared LEDs to detect how much oxygen is carried in the blood's hemoglobin. Oxygenated hemoglobin absorbs more infrared light, while deoxygenated hemoglobin absorbs more visible red light.

This news comes just days after Apple is rumored to have hired Marcelo Malini Lamego, the former CTO of Cercacor, a medical devices company. Lamego, who started at Apple in January, is credited with more than 70 patent applications and granted patents related to sensor and patient monitoring technologies. While at Masimo, he was the lead scientist involved in the development of Rainbow, a noninvasive monitoring platform. In January, it was unveiled that Michael O’Reilly, M.D., former Chief Medical Officer at Masimo, was hired in July 2013. For more on the iWatch, see: Canalys: Wearables To Become 'Key Consumer Technology' In 2014, Expect Huge Sales, Tim Cook: We're Working On Some 'Really Great Stuff' In New Product Categories, and Why Apple’s ‘iWatch’ Could Be A Really Big Deal. Photo: iWatch concept by Todd Hamilton

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