Apple

COVID-19 Severity Calculator logo
By  Dave Muoio 03:12 pm January 28, 2021
23andMe's new COVID-19 resource. Consumer genomics company 23andMe has released a new interactive tool that allows users to see how various health factors could impact the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. The COVID-19 Severity Calculator pulls data from the company's COVID-19 study, which included 10,000 participants diagnosed with the disease and 750 who were hospitalized. 23andMe warned that...
By  Dave Muoio 02:03 pm January 25, 2021
Apple has fleshed out its recently launched Fitness+ subscription offering with celebrity-driven audio content that encourages Apple Watch owners to take their device for regular strolls. Called "Time to Walk," the new feature downloads weekly episodes that range from 25 to 40 minutes in length and play through paired Bluetooth headphones. These sessions feature musicians, athletes and other...
By  Dave Muoio 02:01 pm January 11, 2021
Biogen has announced a new multiyear research study on cognitive decline that will be conducted using the Apple Watch and iPhone. The observational study is being conducted in collaboration with Apple, according to the announcement, and is set to kick off later this year. The project's primary goal is to establish digital biomarkers for monitoring long-term cognitive performance and to spot early...
An image of Amazon's headquarters
By  MobiHealthNews 02:57 pm January 7, 2021
Alexa, listen to me sleep. Hot on the heels of its Halo fitness, weight and sleep wearable, Business Insider reports that Amazon is also working on a contactless bedside device for tracking sleep apnea. The device in development reportedly uses millimeter-wave radar to watch breathing and movement. Codenamed "Brahms," the tracker is roughly the size of a palm, and would speak with other connected...
Screens from Apple's online and app-based COVID-19 symptom checker
By  Dave Muoio 03:14 pm December 18, 2020
Like most companies, Apple's plans for 2020 were upended with the rise of COVID-19. After initial hits to its production line, on-and-off store closures and remote working arrangements, executives said during Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 call that the tech firm weathered the storm with all-time records for revenue, earnings and cash flow – and that's before taking a look at its skyrocketing...
By  Laura Lovett 01:00 am December 14, 2020
Apple is rolling out a new low VO2 Max feature on its Apple Watches, MobiHealthNews has learned. Instead of doing an intense run or workout to capture the measurement, folks can take a walk or a stroll to find out their VO2 Max, which is a measure of overall fitness.  In order to get the measurement users must go through an onboarding process that collects their demographic data and walks them...
By  Laura Lovett 04:43 pm December 8, 2020
Apple has landed a new FDA clearance for an updated version of its ECG feature, allowing the tool to add a category called A-Fib with high heart rate. This comes a little over two years after Apple first landed a De Novo clearance for its first version of the ECG reading.  The latest version of the ECG feature will be available when the new software update rolls out. This second generation will...
An Apple Watch Series 5
By  Dave Muoio 12:46 pm December 8, 2020
Roughly two years after Apple brought an ECG monitor to its wrist-worn devices, connected ECG device-maker AliveCor has raised a patent lawsuit against the tech giant. Filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the suit argues that the tools included in the Apple Watch Series 4 and later devices infringe on three patents held by AliveCor, all of which focus on...
By  Dave Muoio 10:35 am October 7, 2020
U.S. iPhone owners are no longer the only ones with access to Apple's Health Records. This morning the tech giant announced its personal health record (PHR) feature is now available in the U.K. and Canada. There are five healthcare provider groups that have made the tool available to their patients right off the bat: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Milton Keynes University...
By  Dave Muoio 02:34 pm September 28, 2020
A new review of Apple Watch-related presentations suggests that the device's abnormal pulse detection feature may be fueling unnecessary healthcare utilization. "The observation that new clinically actionable cardiovascular diagnoses of interest were diagnosed in only 11.4% of patients following medical evaluation as directed by the treating provider suggests a high false positive rate as a...