Apple Watch Could Soon Start Tracking Parkinson’s Disease

It is clear that Apple envisions a future in which the Apple Watch can go above and beyond what fitness trackers can do, which is why it wasn’t surprising when we heard that Apple could be working on a glucose tracker for the wearable. However while we might be years away from such features, in the near future the Apple Watch could be getting better detection skills.

During one of Apple’s sessions at WWDC 2018, the company revealed a new API called Movement Disorder API. This is designed to help track movements that could be related to Parkinson’s, such as tremors while at rest, fidgeting, swaying, which could also be brought on by the medication that is used to suppress the tremors.

While going for regular checkups to monitor the progress of the disease is vital, doctors can only figure out so much based on what patients tell them, which can sometimes be inaccurate, over or under exaggerated. By allowing for continuous tracking, this will help provide doctors with more information which could let them see if the symptoms are getting better or worse in the patient, and whether the medication needs to be adjusted accordingly.

Apple has since piloted the new API in internal clinic studies and they expect to make the new API available with the second developer release of watchOS 5.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Gadgets, Medical
Tags: Apple Watch, Health, Smartwatch, Wearable Tech, wwdc, wwdc 2018