Apple Watch 4: Will it be suitable as a remote medical monitoring device? Part 1

When I first commented about the Apple Watch as being a possible platform for a remote medical monitoring system in 2015, I was initially excited about the possibilities. Sadly, the technology in 2015 was not quite ready as a platform for remote medical monitoring systems. However, Apple may be turning a corner with the Apple Watch 4 due to be released in Fall 2018. 

To be an effective remote medical monitoring and remote patient management device, the Apple Watch will need to reach acceptable levels of performance in the following seven areas of concern:

1. Bio-sensors
• Built in: are there enough bio sensors with enough resolution?
• Extended: the capability to have additional bio sensors that communicate wirelessly with the watch?
2. Communications over the Internet: Is there a reliable and secure means of communication back to the patient's monitoring system? And the means to communicate with the patient over that same communications channel(s)? 
3. Processing capability, hardware and software: Does the watch have the processing capability to host medical applications?
4. User interface: Visual, touch screen - will patients be able to interact with medical application using the touch screen? Will the watch have an effective audio user interface in order to hear instructions and make requests of the application running on the watch?
5. Reliability: Will the hardware and software reliable enough for a remote medical monitoring and patient management application to run on it?
6. Battery life: When running a remote medical monitoring and patient management application(s) on the watch, will the battery life before needing to recharge be acceptable?
7. Rugged: Is the Apple Watch 4 rugged enough to be a remote medical monitoring and patient management device?

I'm going to touch on each of the areas of concern regarding the performance of the Apple Watch 4.

1. Bio-sensors: I'm not going to address this issue until the Apple Watch 4 has been released. Once it has been released, I'll write an article specifically discussing this topic.
2. Communications over the Internet: A model of the Apple Watch 3 does have the capability of communicating over 4G so reliable communication over the commercial wireless provider networks is possible. We can assume that this capability will continue to the next release. So communications capabilities are likely to be adequate. 
3. Processing capability, hardware and software: Improvements in both are promised over the Apple Watch 3. We can probably assume that hardware and software capabilities will be adequate.
4. User interface:
• Visual, touch screen: The Apple Watch screen has been targeted to those with good visual acuity (with or without glasses) and fine finger control to be able to use the touch screen effectively. Current reports say that the screen will be larger than the Apple Watch 3. Nevertheless it's still a small screen. 
• Auditory: The Apple Watch 3 has Siri, meaning it does have an auditory user interface. More on this after the release of Watch 4.
5. Reliability: Apple has made positive strides in reliability with each release of the Apple Watch. We can assume that this will continue and that the Apple Watch 4 will be reliable enough to serve as a platform for remote medical monitoring and remote patient management applications.
6. Battery life: The Apple Watch 3 has a reported battery life of up to 18 hours. Again Apple has continued its improvements in this area. Patient medical monitoring should be continuous and without long breaks. Even with one or more days of battery life, the watch will still need to be changed and that could take hours. However, having said that, the price of an Apple Watch (because of the ruggedness requirement) that would serve as a remote medical monitoring and patient management device would be around $600. As medical devices go, that's inexpensive and inexpensive enough so that the patient could or should have at least two Apple Watches that would enable the patient to switch watches when necessary. That would place a burden on application software developers to manage when patients change watches, however, this should be manageable.
7. Rugged: The Apple Watch 3 has a version in a stainless steel case. This should be adequate for most situations. Also the issue of reasonably low price and the ability to have redundant watches should effectively address this issue.