The Apple Watch may be able to accurately detect hypertension and sleep apnea, according to a new study published today by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Cardiogram, a company that's developed an app that breaks down heart rate data collected by the Apple Watch.

Using data collected from 6,115 Apple Watch owners and interpreted by Cardiogram's deep neural network "DeepHeart," the study found that the neural network was able to recognize hypertension (aka high blood pressure) with 82 percent accuracy and sleep apnea with 90 percent accuracy.

applewatchheartrate2
Based on previously-established principles suggesting people with low heart rate variability are 1.44x more likely to develop hypertension and that algorithms can accurately determine sleep apnea by beat-to-beat rate variability, Cardiogram and UCSF researchers recruited people for a Health eHeart study and then trained the DeepHeart neural network to detect new variables.

Cardiogram co-founder Brandon Ballinger told TechCrunch the DeepHeart neural network was trained using data from 70 percent of participants, and then tested on the remaining 30 percent who were not used for training purposes. Of the 6,115 people who participated in the study, sleep apnea was detected in 1,016 participants and hypertension in 2,230.

The study results are promising enough that Cardiogram believes with additional research, wearables like the Apple Watch could be used as a cost effective way to test for hypertension and sleep apnea.

The result was accuracy high enough to support feasible, cost-effective, widely-deployable screening of hypertension and sleep apnea.

For sleep apnea, DeepHeart achieved an accuracy (c-statistic, or AUC ROC) of 90%, with several attractive operating points. For example, we can detect 52% of sleep apnea ( compared to 20% today) with a specificity of 97%. If a specificity of 82% is acceptable, then we can detect even more sleep apnea, about 75% of people. For hypertension, the AUC was 0.82, with an example operating point of 81% sensitivity at 63.2% specificity.

Cardiogram says that peer-reviewed clinical research will be necessary to further determine whether wearables are able to screen for major health conditions like sleep apnea and hypertension, but the research results will be translated into future Cardiogram features.

Cardiogram previously used the same neural network and Apple Watch data to determine that the Apple Watch is able to detect abnormal heart rate rhythms with 97 percent accuracy. This has led Apple team up with Stanford for its own study on whether the Apple Watch can detect abnormal health rhythms and common heart problems.

In the future, Cardiogram plans to expand its research to additional conditions like pre-diabetes and diabetes.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch Series 9
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Top Rated Comments

KazKam Avatar
83 months ago
Too bad the battery doesn’t last long enough to wear all night and be charged for the next day...
I used to think that too, but I've recently started wearing my watch to bed to monitor my sleep with the app Sleep Watch.

Turns out getting the battery to last for me throughout the day and night was just a matter of changing my charging habits. Now I charge the watch after I get up while I'm getting ready. Usually charges enough to make it through the day and the next night... and that's with a Series 0.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
QuarterSwede Avatar
83 months ago
Too bad the battery doesn’t last long enough to wear all night and be charged for the next day...
Speak for yourself. The Series 3 42mm lasts about 2.5 days for me and fully charges in 45 min. It gets a full days charge from about 15-20 min.

I charged it last night while taking a shower. Wore it to bed for use as my alarm and wore it all day without charging it again at work using it (email, messages, Things, the time) and it’s at 67%. If I were to throw it on the charger it would be fullly charged in 10-15 min. That’s about the length of my shower and getting dressed.

If I sleep with it on I lose about 4% overnight (turning theatre mode on helps).

The battery life issue has definitely been solved.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Craiger Avatar
83 months ago
Too bad the battery doesn’t last long enough to wear all night and be charged for the next day...
I sleep with mine every night. I charge it for about 1.5 hours each morning before work.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thisisnotmyname Avatar
83 months ago
Too bad the battery doesn’t last long enough to wear all night and be charged for the next day...
Series 3 has phenomenal battery life. I can go for multiple days before I have to charge.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FelixDerKater Avatar
83 months ago
Too bad the battery doesn’t last long enough to wear all night and be charged for the next day...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sjinsjca Avatar
83 months ago
Too bad the battery doesn’t last long enough to wear all night and be charged for the next day...
Horsepucky. My S0 is 2 1/2 years old, and EVERY night it is on my wrist. I’m deaf, so it’s my alarm clock. In the morning I get up, put it on the charger (typically 40-60% charged) have my morning tea, and by the time I’ve had my shower it’s ready for the next 24 hours.

But, haters gonna hate.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...