The Apple Watch’s SpO2 sensor, which allows wearers to measure oxygen levels in their blood, was impressive when it was first introduced, but may be more accurate than initially marketed.
According to a recent study, the blood oxygen reader on the Apple Watch is comparable to medical pulse oximeters. While the Apple Watch shouldn’t be used in place of official medical devices, it’s good to know that the data you’re displaying is accurate enough to be reliable, according to Engadget.
The study, first reported by 9to5Mac, was published this month in the Journal of Digital Health and sought to compare a “commercially available smartwatch” with a medical pulse oximeter.
The watch used in the study was the Apple Watch Series 6, the first Apple smartwatch to include a SpO2 sensor, which is now more than two years old.
The results of the study showed that the Apple Watch “reliably detects cases of low blood oxygen saturation with a SpO2 of less than 90% compared to a medical pulse oximeter.” To reach this conclusion, the study used 24 healthy participants, each wearing an Apple Watch Series 6 on their wrist and a traditional Masimo Radical-7 pulse oximeter on the middle finger of the same hand.
The participants then performed different breathing exercises to manipulate their blood oxygen levels to see how the Apple Watch performed compared to the Masimo Radical-7. At the end of the tests, there were 642 blood oxygen measurements for comparison.
To reiterate: If you are looking for a completely accurate reading of blood oxygen, it is still best to use an appropriate medical device.
However, the study results show that Apple’s wearable technology is definitely moving in the right direction to provide accurate medical information.
In addition to the SpO2 sensor, the Apple Watch provides irregular heartbeat alerts that may indicate atrial fibrillation, medication reminders, and sleep tracking.
Although Apple does not claim that any of its devices can be used as a physical medical reader, the features that have been added to the Apple Watch in particular are very useful for those who want to track their physical functions and watch conversations with healthcare providers. .
