*

AI models applied to existing sensor data for blood

pressure

alerts

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Feature approved by FDA, not a substitute for traditional

measurements

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Rollout to 150+ countries aims to reduce

hypertension-related

conditions

By Stephen Nellis

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Apple Watch Series 11

models that go on sale on Friday can notify users that they may

have high blood pressure, in a feature the company has powered

using artificial intelligence rather than a blood pressure

monitor.

The notification feature, which will work with models back to

the Apple Watch Series 9, came about from applying AI models to

existing sensor data, said Sumbul Ahmad Desai, Apple's ( AAPL ) vice

president of health.

Apple ( AAPL ) had been interested for years in trying to identify high

blood pressure, she told Reuters.

The condition affects more than 1 billion people globally, but

half of the adults with it go undiagnosed, in part because the

standard for measuring blood pressure - a cuff called a

sphygmomanometer - is something many people encounter only at a

doctor's office.

Apple ( AAPL ) used AI to sort through the data from 100,000 people

enrolled in a heart and movement study it originally launched in

2019 to see whether it could find features in the signal data

from the watch's main heart-related sensor that it could then

match up with traditional blood pressure measurements, Desai

said.

After multiple layers of machine learning, Apple ( AAPL ) came up

with an algorithm that it then validated with a specific study

of 2,000 participants.

Apple's ( AAPL ) privacy measures mean that "one of the ironies here

is we don't get a lot of data" outside of the context of

large-scale studies, Desai said. But data from those studies

"gives us a sense of, scientifically, what are some other

signals that are worth pulling the thread on ... those studies

are incredibly powerful."

The feature, which received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration, does not measure blood pressure directly, but

notifies users that they may have high blood pressure and

encourages them to use a cuff to measure it and talk to a

doctor.

Apple ( AAPL ) plans to roll out the feature to more than 150

countries, which Ami Bhatt, chief innovation officer of the

American College of Cardiology, said could help people discover

high blood pressure early and reduce related conditions such as

heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease.

Bhatt, who said her views are her own and do not represent those

of the college, said Apple ( AAPL ) appears to have been careful to avoid

false positives that might alarm users. But she said the iPhone

maker should emphasize that the new feature is no substitute for

traditional measurements and professional diagnosis.

"There is also the risk of false reassurance - those who don't

get an alert may wrongly assume they don't have hypertension,"

Bhatt said in an interview.