The Apple Watch may be on the brink of transforming into a medical device, as indicated by a recently published patent application from the technology company. The "Care Event Detection and Alerts" patent filed by Apple claims to provide alerts regarding a care event through an electronic device, presumably an Apple Watch or another Apple product.
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office released the patent March 10, and Information Week reported its publication.
The pending patent for the device suggests the device could notify care providers — whether family, friends, ambulances, hospitals, etc. — if the device user is incapacitated or unable to initiate communications with the care provider regarding an event for which the user may need care. The application suggests such care events may include a car crash, biking accident, medical emergencies like heart attacks or a fire, among others.
According to the patent application's abstract, "an occurrence of one or more 'care events' is detected by an electronic device monitoring environmental data and/or user data from one or more sensors. The electronic device transmits one or more alerts regarding the detected occurrence to at least one other electronic device."
Information Week reports Apple is still in the early stages of transforming the Apple Watch into a medical device, as it would need to receive FDA approval, but the patent suggests the company has plans to move in this direction.
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