Even before the Apple Watch was officially announced, the rumors surrounding the device have suggested that Apple was planning on positioning it as a health device. While it did launch with several health features, it looks like the Apple Watch is getting a boost in the health department, thanks to the FDA clearing AliveCor’s “Kardia Band”.
For those learning about this for the first time, the Kardia Band is an EKG analyzer designed for the Apple Watch. It’s not exactly new as over in Europe, it has already been available for a while. However it was not available in the US as it was pending the FDA’s approval, which it has since gotten, which means that it can now be sold in the US.
The Kardia Band is sort of like an improvement over the company’s KardiaMobile device. The former is a strap worn around the wrist and can detect abnormal heart rhythm and atrial fibrillation, while the latter is a device attached to the back of your phone that you have to hold with both hands for 30 seconds, which is clearly not as convenient.
It is no secret that the Apple Watch is proving to be a more useful health tracking device than what Apple had led us to believe at the start. There have been multiple instances in which users have noticed heart problems before they happened, thanks to the built-in heart rate sensor, so much so that Apple is investigating to what extent the Apple Watch can detect abnormal heart rhythms.
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