Photo credit: Patently Apple
Color-changing bands are great for aesthetics, but an Apple Watch smart band with health monitoring sensors could save your life. A recently approved patent filing may have leaked such an accessory and an embedded identification element would be used to communicate with the Apple Watch.
Photodetectors on the Apple Watch would be used to detect the identification element by outputting a light source within a field of view of the biosensor. Optical (e.g., PPG) sensors could be used to compute various health metrics such as heart rate, respiration rate, blood oxygenation level, blood volume estimates, blood pressure, or a combination of those measurements.
![Apple Watch Series 8 [GPS 45mm] Smart Watch w/Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - S/M...](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41lez0Kg9jL._SL160_.jpg)
- WHY APPLE WATCH SERIES 8 — Your essential companion for a healthy life is now even more powerful. Advanced sensors provide insights to help you...
- EASILY CUSTOMIZABLE — Available in a range of sizes and materials, with dozens of bands to choose from and watch faces with complications tailored...
- INNOVATIVE SAFETY FEATURES — Crash Detection and Fall Detection can automatically connect you with emergency services in the event of a severe car...
As shown in FIG. 3, Apple Watch can include a light source #122 and a biosensor #124, such as a photodetector, that are exposed on a bottom surface #120 of the watch housing (#102) to form a photoplethysmography (‘PPG’) sensor. In some cases, a PPG sensor may be configured to detect changes in blood volume based on reflected light, and one or more physiological parameters of the user may be determined by analyzing the reflected light,” according to Patently Apple.
