Apple had previously conducted a clinical study with the Apple Watch on how it might be able to better detect and analyze the wearer’s heart rate. We had also heard that they are planning on donating Apple Watches to a study on binge eating, and it looks like Apple is nowhere close to slowing down.
A report from CNBC has revealed that Apple will be teaming up with Zimmer Biomet for a new clinical study which will see the Apple Watch used to monitor/study patients who have had common knee and/or hip replacement procedures. With an estimated 1 million Americans getting knee and hip replacements a year, and with Zimmer Biomet being one of the biggest manufacturers of reconstructive products, it makes sense that this is an area that Apple might be interested in.
The Apple Watch will be used to help track the steps and heart rate data of patients, which in turn will see that information shared with doctors to give them a better idea of how they’re doing after surgery. For example the number of steps taken could be used to gauge whether or not a patient is experiencing pain, and whether that pain is coming from the procedure or if it could simply be overexertion.
It will be interesting to see what will become of this study, and how the Apple Watch could eventually be updated with new features that cater to such patients. The Apple Watch Series 4 came with some pretty huge improvements over its predecessor, such as fall detection and a built-in ECG monitor.
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