health

Medical ID is a built-in feature of your iPhone's Health app that gives ambulance crews and other emergency first responders fast access to potentially life-saving information about any allergies or medical conditions you have, even if your iPhone is locked. Even if you don't suffer from any health conditions, it's still worth enabling Medical ID, because it can also provide other vital information about you to emergency services, such as your blood type and who to contact in an emergency. This article shows you how to set up Medical ID in iOS 11.

A newly unearthed patent reveals that Apple is exploring how a future Apple Watch could help doctors monitor the symptoms of Parkinson's patients. Spotted by AppleInsider, "Passive Tracking of Dyskinesia/Tremor Symptoms" describes the use of special sensors in a proposed ‌Apple Watch‌ medical feature and the reasoning behind it. "There are an estimated 600,000 to 1 million cases of Parkinson's Disease in the United States and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year," reads the filing, which goes on to describe the symptoms sufferers have to live with. "Symptoms of PD include... tremor and dyskinesia. Dyskinesia is an uncontrollable and involuntary movement that can resemble twitching, fidgeting, swaying or bobbing."The patent states that dyskinesia and tremors can occur when all of the other features of Parkinson's Disease are being managed through medication. Unfortunately, the dopamine replacement therapy can also cause more pronounced side effects, and doctors have to rely on in-clinic tests and patient reports to regulate their treatment effectively. "A patient's quality of life is largely dependent on how precisely clinicians titrate and schedule the patient's medications to minimize the patient's symptoms. This is a challenge for clinicians because each patient has a different combination of symptoms that can change and become more severe over time. Also, in any given day the symptoms may fluctuate based on medications, food intake, sleep, stress, exercise, etc."The feature uses motion sensors to monitor the wearer's movement and the data gathered is

Stanford Medicine today published results from the Apple Heart Study that kicked off in 2017, marking the third time data from the study has been shared (via Reuters and CNBC). The aim of the study, conducted by Stanford and Apple, was to determine whether the Apple Watch is able to detect atrial fibrillation, which can be an indicator of serious heart health problems. Researchers wanted to determine how well the ‌Apple Watch‌ worked and whether it was safe to use. A total of 419,297 people in the United States participated in the study, and 0.52 percent of participants (2,161 people) received an irregular heart rhythm notification over 117 days of monitoring. People who received a notification were sent ECG patches to further monitor for heart problems, but quite a few of those went unreturned. Of the 450 people who returned the patches with data that could be analyzed, atrial fibrillation was present in 34 percent overall and 35 percent of participants age 65 or older. Of those who had an irregular reading and returned a patch, 84 percent of subsequent notifications were determined to be atrial fibrillation.Among participants who were notified of an irregular pulse, the positive predictive value was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.76 to 0.92) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular pulse notification and 0.71 (97.5% CI, 0.69 to 0.74) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular tachogram. Of 1376 notified participants who returned a 90-day survey, 57% contacted health care providers

From this week, users of Alexa devices in the United Kingdom will be able to get expert health advice from the voice-activated smart speakers, thanks to a partnership between Amazon and the National Health Service. When health-related queries such as "Alexa, how do I treat a migraine?" or "what are the symptoms of flu?" are put to the devices, Amazon's algorithm will use information from the NHS website to provide answers. Britain's NHS says the technology will help patients the elderly, blind and those who cannot access the internet through traditional means, to get professional NHS-verified health information in seconds, potentially reducing the pressure on the NHS and GPs, specifically when it comes to providing information for common illnesses. Currently, Alexa gets its answers to health-related questions from a number of sources, including the Mayo Clinic and WebMD. As a point of contrast, Apple's Siri currently retrieves answers to health-related queries from Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock offered the following comments on the new Amazon-NHS partnership: We want to empower every patient to take better control of their healthcare and technology like this is a great example of how people can access reliable, world-leading NHS advice from the comfort of their home, reducing the pressure on our hardworking GPs and pharmacists. Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we want to embrace the advances in technology to build a health and care system that is fit for the future and NHSX will drive this

A CNBC report on Tuesday brought attention to a slew of recent hires away from Apple's Health team to health insurer Anthem, which is trying to improve the user-friendliness of its consumer technology. According to the report, Anthem has hired half a dozen current or former Apple employees over the last few months, including veteran Apple staff as well as relative newcomers to the company. Among the new hires are senior machine learning researcher Stefanos Giampanis, and Apple Health's Toni Trujillo Vian, an Apple veteran of 24 years. The health insurer also hired Ted Goldstein, a former Apple vice president from 2002 to 2007, to run its AI and health data efforts, about six months ago, and some lower-level folks like Berick Bacani, a former Apple operations specialist, as a UX designer on the digital team.CNBC notes that the health insurer's Apple pedigree actually dates back a few years: Anthem's vice president of commercial, Aneesh Kumar, started his career in the 1990s as a product manager at Apple. In addition to the Apple staff migration, the insurer has gained another high-profile recruit from the tech world: Udi Manber, who headed Google's search team, is now a technical advisor at Anthem. Apple's staff departures are particularly notable given that the company is supposed to be redoubling efforts to improve its health-related tech. For example, Apple in 2018 acquired Tueo Health, a startup working on an app to help parents monitor asthma symptoms in sleeping children. At WWDC 2019, Apple also announced that new health and fitness capabilities

Apple recently added obstetrician Dr. Christine Curry to its health team, reports CNBC. With this hiring, Apple is said to be looking in to how to bolster its efforts in women's health. Curry comes to Apple from a stint at Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City, California, which is located not too far from Apple's Cupertino campuses. Apple employs dozens of doctors at its "AC Wellness clinics" designed for Apple employees. Sources that spoke to CNBC said that while Curry has an interest in women's health, she will be working on "various health issues across the health teams." When Apple first launched its Health app and HealthKit service, there was no section for reproductive health, but it was later added. There is now a full Reproductive Health section available within the Health app that integrates with period and fertility trackers. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that he believes Apple's ultimate contribution to mankind will be its improvements to the health

The British government has announced plans to launch a new NHS mobile app that will let patients in England make appointments with their doctor. The app will also allow users to order repeat prescriptions, manage their long-term healthcare, see their medical records, and quickly access 111 for urgent queries. In addition, users will have access to patient preferences related to data sharing, organ donation, and end-of-life care. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the app as a "birthday present from the NHS to the British people", 70 years after the service was founded. The NHS app is a world-first which will put patients firmly in the driving seat and revolutionize the way we access health services. I want this innovation to mark the death-knell of the 8am scramble for GP appointments that infuriates so many patients. Technology has transformed everyday life when it comes to banking, travel and shopping. Health matters much more to all of us, and the prize of that same digital revolution in healthcare isn't just convenience but lives improved, extended and saved. As the NHS turns 70 and we draw up a long-term plan for the NHS on the back of our £394 million a week funding boost, it's time to catch up and unleash the power of technology to transform everyday life for patients."The new app will put the NHS into the pocket of everyone in England but it is just one step on the journey," said Matthew Swindells, NHS England National Director of Operations and Information. "We are also developing an NHS Apps Library and putting free NHS Wi-Fi in GP

A new health-focused startup called Notable today announced its first app for Apple Watch, which aims to automatically record and digitize visits to the doctor as well as "eliminate the vast majority of clinical administrative work." Using deep learning algorithms, AI, and natural language processing to identify voices, Notable records interactions between doctors and patients so that specific information can be revisited by physicians, healthcare providers, and patients. The company says that its technology not only helps busy doctors cut down on paperwork and other administrative tasks, but also lowers the stress of visits for patients. Notable's Apple Watch app captures a visit's duration, location, and more, then compiles the data from the doctor's Apple Watch to add labs, prescriptions, referrals, and more to the patient's medical records. The doctor then looks over all of this information for accuracy before submitting it to the patient's electronic health records. To accomplish these tasks, the app uses voice wake features that make it possible for doctors to complete an encounter "with just one tap." The app automatically structures conversations, dictations, orders, and recommends the appropriate billing codes. Since Notable's beta launch, the company says it has earned an approval rating of more than 98.5 percent by doctors using the service. "Notable frees me to spend more quality time with my patients at work, and more quality time with my family when I get home. I now complete almost 100% of my notes immediately after the patient visit is

Apple today previewed iOS 11.3, its next major iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch software update. The first beta has been seeded to developers today, with a public beta coming soon, ahead of an official release this spring. iOS 11.3 introduces new Animoji on the iPhone X, including a lion, bear, dragon, and skull. There will now be 16 characters to choose from in total, including existing ones like a pig, fox, chicken, pile of poo, and robot. iOS 11.3 will feature ARKit 1.5. In addition to horizontal surfaces like tables and chairs, Apple's updated augmented reality platform will now be able to recognize and place virtual objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors, and more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces like circular tables. ARKit 1.5 can find and recognize the position of 2D images such as signs, posters, and artwork, and integrate these real-world images into augmented reality experiences, such as bringing a movie poster to life. In addition, the view of the "real world" will now be in 1080p HD, up from 720p currently. The software update will introduce Business Chat, a new way for users to communicate directly with businesses within the Messages app. This feature will launch in beta following the public release of iOS 11.3 this spring, with support from select businesses, including Discover, Hilton, Lowe's, and Wells Fargo. With Business Chat, it's easy to have a conversation with a service representative, schedule an appointment or make purchases using Apple Pay in the Messages app. Business Chat doesn’t share the user’s contact

Medical smartphone accessory company AliveCor this week received FDA-approval for its EKG Kardia Band, the first medical-grade accessory for Apple Watch. The band has been available in Europe for some months, but the product's clearance by the FDA means it can now be sold in the United States. The Kardia Band for Apple Watch has an integrated metallic sensor in the strap that enables it to communicate with the company's app to take EKG readings, where it can detect abnormal heart rhythm and atrial fibrillation (AF), much like AliveCor's existing KardiaMobile device. However, the latter device attaches to the back of an iPhone and requires users to hold their phone with both hands for 30 seconds to register a reading, whereas the Kardia Band lets wearers take readings discreetly wherever they are and in real time. Users need only navigate to the Apple Watch-compatible Kardia app, start a reading, place their thumb on the sensor, and wait for the 30-second analysis to finish. During this time, they can also speak into the Apple Watch's microphone to note the presence of palpitations or shortness of breath, or any dietary habits that could be linked to heart-rate fluctuations. Recordings are stored and viewed in the Kardia iPhone app, and can also be sent to the user's doctor. The app also connects to Apple's stock Health app, so users can integrate their EKG readings into other fitness data for a more comprehensive picture of their overall health. According to TechCrunch, AliveCor is also introducing a new feature called SmartRhythm that utilizes a

Apple considered purchasing medical clinic startup Crossover Health as part of its push into healthcare, reports CNBC. Apple is said to have participated talks with the healthcare company up until recently, but after months of discussion, no deal materialized. According to its website, Crossover Health works with major companies to provide employees with on-site medical clinics. Some of its existing customers include Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Square, and Apple, with many of these companies offering on-campus medical care. Citing three sources with knowledge of the talks, CNBC says it's not clear why no acquisition ultimately happened between the two companies. Apple also talked to One Medical, another startup that offers patient clinics in several different cities. Whether Apple would use such a startup to develop public-facing actual medical clinics or use existing facilities to sell products and gather data is not known.The discussions about expanding into primary care have been happening inside Apple's health team for more than a year, one of the people said. It is not yet clear whether Apple would build out its own network of primary care clinics, in a similar manner to its highly successful retail stores, or simply partner with existing players.Apple has made serious inroads into medical care with the introduction of CareKit and ResearchKit. CareKit is aimed at helping app developers create health-related apps to allow consumers better access to healthcare data, while ResearchKit is aimed at helping medical professionals develop studies to further

At a nondescript office in Palo Alto, Apple is rumored to have a small team of biomedical engineers researching better methods for monitoring blood sugar, reports CNBC. Apple's work on glucose monitoring is said to have started with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who wanted to develop a sensor that could continuously and non-invasively monitor blood sugar levels to improve quality of life. Apple is far enough along in its research that feasibility trials are being conducted at clinical sites in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it has hired consultants to sort out regulatory issues.The glucose team is said to report to Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies. [...] One of the people said that Apple is developing optical sensors, which involves shining a light through the skin to measure indications of glucose.Rumors of Apple's work on advanced healthcare initiatives like diabetes management aren't new. Early Apple Watch information suggested the wearable device would be able to measure things like blood pressure and blood glucose levels. Many health-related sensors that Apple wanted to include in the original Apple Watch were reportedly dropped because the technology was not consistently accurate, but rumors at the time said Apple would pursue its work on more advanced health sensors. Apple has also made several health-related acquisitions and around the time the Apple Watch was in development, hired dozens of biomedical experts. Apple CEO Tim Cook has since said that Apple does not want to put the Apple Watch through the FDA approval