Last week, medical device maker Masimo announced new deals with Google and Qualcomm to bring its biosensor technology to Wear OS smartwatches. That's pretty insider knowledge for the wearable industry, but it takes an interesting turn when you consider that Masimo is also the reason why the new Apple Watch Series 10 not have blood oxygen supply functions in the USA.
From the outside, it looks as if the company that is battling with Apple over blood oxygen levels is now setting the conditions for how exactly this technology can be used by Apple's smartwatch competitors. In doing so, it wants to protect itself against further alleged patent infringements.
Masimo CEO Joe Kiani says he doesn't quite see it that way. Under the agreements, Masimo is creating a reference platform that embeds its technology in Qualcomm's smartwatch chip and the Wear OS platform.
“We see this as an opportunity to provide people with continuous, accurate monitoring so that they don’t have to try to rip us off,” Kiani says in a phone call with The edge“We did this because we see a world where people really want these wearables to get accurate SpO2 readings, to do really science-based sleep apnea and sleep analysis, to measure hydration and all sorts of things.”
Kiani claims that ensuring accuracy across the market is the real goal, touting Masimo's medical pedigree. And he's right. Masimo's technology is FDA-cleared, meaning the agency has evaluated and verified Masimo's accuracy claims based on a variety of variables. That's not the case with the blood oxygen sensors in most consumer smartwatches. That's because blood oxygen data is largely presented as a wellness feature. It's nice data, but you're not supposed to make important health or medical decisions based on it. This can understandably lead to confusion, especially since it's difficult for consumers to keep track of which features are FDA-cleared and which aren't.
“Not only do we have FDA clearance for our claims, but we will perform a review and validation on every OEM that comes to us to make sure they're doing it as well as we are,” says Kiani, noting that Masimo will also help companies navigate the FDA approval process.
The potential benefits are many. FDA approval is a time- and resource-intensive process that can be difficult for companies outside the medical field to navigate. Even now, consumer blood oxygen monitoring is fairly limited in its usefulness. Spot checks don't necessarily provide useful long-term data, while the accuracy of nighttime monitoring can be compromised if you sleep on your side. At the same time, Kiani says truly accurate SpO2 monitoring in wearable devices could help humans and medical staff remotely monitor patients with chronic diseases. But the accuracy needs to be there for that potential to be realized.
Still, it's hard to ignore what this means for smartwatch blood oxygen sensors in general.
Apple has stubbornly refused to license Masimo's technology, meaning Apple Watches in the US won't have blood oxygen monitoring until the patent dispute is resolved or the patent itself expires in 2028. Wear OS watches, however, could start adding it en masse in the next year or two. Kiani declined to name any potential partners, but hinted that some announcements could come soon. Masimo itself is also working on a Wear OS smartwatch, aptly named Freedom, which was unveiled at CES earlier this year.