Updating the operating system, watch OS 7 in smartwatches Apple has enhanced their ability to recognize the types of physical activity of their owner. Using the Apple Watch for patients in need of physical therapy or physical rehabilitation may help patients and doctors to increase the effectiveness of treatment and potentially to bring the practice of physical therapy to a higher level.
This week Apple (AAPL) announced a new smart Watch to the conference devoted to software updates of its devices.
Analysts pointed out that, among other things, the Apple Watch gets another impetus for greater demand – a new “health functions”.
According to estimates by UBS, the total targeted market for “consumer healthcare” is about $600 billion amid the challenges of the pandemic and trends in the transition to a healthy lifestyle, this market will continue to grow faster than the economy as a whole.
In addition to the new functions, measurement during sleep, and also noise, when Apple announced the new features of the Apple Watch to determine the types and levels of physical activity (new features in apps Workout and Fitness) that can serve much broader purposes than just counting spent per day of calories.
New control “functionality” of a person supported by a powerful Apple Watch heart rate monitors and specially designed algorithms. According to a press release, some of the data that is now able to recognize smart watch (widely used by the clinics, “the six-minute walk test”, stride length, asymmetry of movements when walking, etc.) previously measured only in the laboratory.
According to Apple, the data received from the Watch and the iPhone allow us to estimate the mobility of patients in a standardized way and are already used for diagnosing and caring for patients manufacturer of orthopedic services Biomet, Zimmer and her service mymobility, designed to assess indicators of gait patients.
These technologies may be helpful for patients with disorders of the musculoskeletal system, giving more accurate data for analysis, for example, during rehabilitation after injury. The ability to remotely passing programs physical therapy (at home, for example) can reduce the burden on doctors while allowing you to track the progress in the rehabilitation of patients in between clinic visits.
Paul Friedman, Professor of medicine and chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Mayo clinic in an interview with CNBC, noted that wearable devices may play a role when it comes to measuring functional ability over time. Simply put, the Apple Watch can help doctors remotely monitor patients as they age.
Dr. Jeffrey Wessler, a cardiologist from new York, also confirmed that the Apple Watch is especially useful for monitoring patients during clinical trials.
Some experts say about the potential of agreements between health care organizations and Apple in programs of physical therapy when patients can enroll to physical therapy instead of having surgery. The world experience similar modern programs gives promising results. In cases when patients do no longer need expensive treatments, such programs can greatly reduce the cost to healthcare organizations and patients.
Most doctors agree that this area requires more investment and resources to use wearable devices to monitor patients. Some say that Apple should focus on more complex medical monitoring.
Christopher Kelly, a cardiologist from Raleigh, North Carolina said: “we need more creative innovation from Apple, which do offer medical value.”
