On September 12, according to 9to5Mac, Apple confirmed that its latest health function, Hypertension Notifications, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will be officially launched next week. This feature will cover more than 150 countries and regions, including the United States, the European Union, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
It is understood that the hypertension notification will be adapted to the latest releases of Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3, and is also open to Series 9, Series 10 and Ultra 2 users. This function is based on an optical heart rate sensor, and uses algorithms to analyze the response of user blood vessels during the heartbeat, and monitors it in the background in a 30-day cycle. When long-term signs of hypertension are detected, the system will push notifications to the user.
Apple said the feature is not a medical diagnostic tool, but can help users identify potential risks and encourage them to communicate with doctors, promoting early intervention. Internal testing data of the company showed that this function reached a specificity of 95.3% in the normal blood pressure population, which means that some users who may have an upward trend but have not yet met the hypertension standards will also be prompted.
