The Apple Watch Series 6 is here with more ways to quantify every aspect of your being.
The latest fancy health feature is a way to measure your blood oxygen levels. Blood oxygen is one indicator of pulmonary health, and Apple is already putting the new capability to very timely use.
Apple announced that it is using the blood oxygen feature on the new Apple Watch to study COVID-19. It is partnering with the Seattle Flu Study at the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine to better understand how COVID affects the respiratory system. We don’t know much about the study yet, but Apple says it will “seek to learn how signals from apps on Apple Watch, such as Heart Rate and Blood Oxygen, could serve as early signs of respiratory conditions like influenza and COVID-19.”
Apple already has a COVID screening tool available on its website and devices, and is working on contact tracing to help track the spread of the disease. It also has multiple studies in the works on how doctors can use Apple Watch’s data for patient care.