*Note: This article is not specific to the Apple brand, but is limited to the entire industry.
The Apple Watch has been the market leader in the average consumer smartwatch. Millions of people around the world buy and use Apple Watches. This wearable technology device looks sophisticated and stylish, and is often used as a gift, especially as a birthday present.
But recently Apple publicly stated in the U.S. that "Apple's blood oxygen app measurement is not intended for medical use." For general fitness and health purposes only. This kind of statement bothers consumers because Apple puts the decision on the use of the product's features to the consumer.
Blood oxygen monitoring is the use of light beams to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood, which is an important medical indicator. However, oximeters have proven to be much less accurate than whites for people of color, especially for darker races. Misestimates generated by clinical tools and algorithms increase the chances of medical misprocessing.
There is a lack of attention to people of color and even an inherent bias in the design of such products. This kind of conceptual and design errors and omissions also appear in many electronic automatic devices in our daily life. Seemingly neutral devices such as electronic thermometers, soap dispensers, automatic hand sanitizers, camera recognition software, heart rate monitors, and autopilot often fail to accurately identify darker skin tones.
Thermometers are a household necessity, but they are not accurate for people of color. Since this type of oximeter issue was discovered in 2021, the FDA has not been able to meaningfully address such inaccuracies related to racial skin color. While some pulse oximeters have been improved to include additional wavelengths in the beam to correct errors, this technology has not been updated and standardized in a wide range of hospital systems.
Apple states that the Blood Oxygen app is only for general fitness and wellness purposes.