[NewsPoster]

A new patent filing at the US Patent and Trade Office has potentially shed some light on future plans for the Apple Watch. Patent number 20160071392, called "care event detection and alerts," lays out a system where deteriorating health conditions sensed by biometric devices in the wearer's devices causes a chain of escalating notifications to caretakers, culminating in a call to emergency services.

Events spelled out in the patent include "a car crash, a bike accident, a medical emergency such as a heart attack or an aneurysm, separation of a child from the child's caregiver, a dementia patient becoming lost, an avalanche, a fall, a mugging, [and] a fire." The patent doesn't spell out what specific sensors will be enhanced in future iterations of the Apple Watch, and the patent drawings don't even include the device. However, the patent addresses that more than just biometric monitoring is assessed when determining if an incident has occurred -- environmental state, speed of movement, and similar monitored parameters that can be gleaned from existing sensors are all examined in tandem.

Apple states in its patent that "Such a care list may be a data record indicating parties whom should be alerted in case of an occurrence and how they should be alerted." A first-tier of contacts may include family members, who may initiate an emergency call on their own, but if the condition worsens or if family is not able to help then the device will call emergency services on its own. Simplifying response, but potentially causing a problem with existing medical information privacy laws, the patent does note that in some implementations, medical data for the user may be transmitted.

The Apple Watch as it stands is not certified as a medical device. While the sensors can be used to glean status, and it has been theorized that the sensors on the device are capable of more in-depth health monitoring, in order for the Apple Watch to be utilized for emergency situation monitoring, it would likely need approval from the various governmental bodies world-wide before Apple implements similar features. However, the watch is capable of interfacing with existing medical-grade monitoring devices through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections.

[twolf2919]

"In order for the Apple Watch to be utilized for emergency situation monitoring, it would likely need approval from the various governmental bodies." What basis does this comment have? I mean, I understand Tim Cook is trying to avoid the lengthy FDA approval waits for "medical devices", but why would this patent - essentially just automatically calling someone in an emergency - require any approvals? After all, it's just automating what a live person would do if they witnessed an emergency.

[DiabloConQueso]

It's not the emergency call feature that would require FDA approval (and/or other governmental body), it would potentially be the mechanisms that monitor a person's specific health and status that would need FDA approval.

If you want the Apple Watch to do more than it does today (perhaps, and for example, monitoring glucose levels without the need for additional devices), then some of those things might be considered a "medical device" and fall under FDA regulation.

[twolf2919]

@DiabloConQueso - I understand that. Therefore, my question - this patent doesn't describe additional monitoring capabilities, some of which might require FDA approval. It simply describes what to do with the results of any monitoring. And I don't see how calling emergency services would require the 'approval from the various government bodies.'

[Mike Wuerthele]

It's not the calling, it's the analysis of health parameters, like DCQ pointed out. The Apple Watch isn't a medical device, and as such, can't be used for analyses.

There are restrictions in the US on devices that make emergency calls from automatic input like heart rate, needing them to have feedback from regulatory-approved medical devices.

So, calling the 911 service, fine. Calling the 911 service automatically because the Apple Watch detected an arrhythmia? Regulatory approval needed for the sensors.

[I-ku-u]

Thank you for the answers to two's questions and thank you two for asking. Good info in these comments that I wasn't aware of.

[Inkling]

What's more disturbing than any fuss over FDA approval is what's implied by the description of the patent: //Patent number 20160071392, called "care event detection and alerts," lays out a system where deteriorating health conditions sensed by biometric devices in the wearer's devices causes a chain of escalating notifications to caretakers, culminating in a call to emergency services.\\ A generation ago, you didn't patent a result, you patented one way of achieving that result. That meant working hardware submitted to the patent office not a mere block chart in which "deteriorating health conditions" trigger "a chain of escalating notifications. That's no different from how hospital staff have handled a crisis back into the far-distant past. Why does it deserve a patent when all Apple seems to be doing is replace people and monitors with abstractly described hardware and software?