The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Apple’s hypertension (also known as high blood pressure) detection feature, which was recently released for the Apple Watch. Newsweek reported that the FDA’s approval, which was announced on Thursday, September 12, will allow Apple to add blood pressure monitoring capabilities to several watch models, launching with the watchOS 26 update on September 15.
This feature uses the optical heart sensor on its watch to analyze how blood vessels respond to heart rate over a 30-day period and continuously monitors it. Not only that, but it will also alert users to any anomalies in the pattern that could indicate signs of high blood pressure.
With it using sensors instead of the standard inflating arm cuff, this technology is a huge step forward for wearable gadgets, with it also being found on Apple’s current rival Samsung’s Galaxy Watch, which uses its internal photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor.
After learning from training data from more than 100,000 people, the company is optimistic about its technology, with further validation stemming from clinical studies of more than 2,000 people, according to Newsweek.
According to the company, the hypertension feature will be added to Apple Watch Series 9 and newer models and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later models with the watchOS 26 update.
The hypertension feature is featured as standard going forward, according to Newsweek.
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This hypertension feature is set to launch in 150 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition to this feature, the watches will also have other digital health tools like ECG (electrocardiogram) monitoring and sleep apnea detection, as well as sleep score evaluation and other fitness tracking apps.