Apple Receives Patent for Integrated Heart Rate Monitor

The iPhone may be the world’s most advanced mobile device, but there are limitations to its genius.

Despite a steady string of advancements over the last seven years, Apple’s smartphone still hasn’t fully tapped its health monitoring potential. But that soon could change.
 

For the last several years, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant has been working on ways to incorporate heart monitors into the iPhone. A 2010 patent application details the novel ID technology associated with embedded ECG sensors, which measure the unique electrocardiogram signature generated by a beating heart. The ECG sensor would serve a similar purpose as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5, identifying users according to their unique biometric data. And, the like the Touch ID, the ECG sensor would be embedded in conductive surfaces of a device, such as the bezel (the conductive ring surrounding the screen). The sensors, Apple notes, can be finished so they are indistinguishable from the rest of the phone chassis, maintaining a device’s aesthetic appeal.  

Late last year, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office granted Apple a patent for a “seamlessly embedded heart rate monitor.” The patent includes diagrams that show how the monitor would fit into an iPhone, but Apple has not yet revealed plans to use the technology in any forthcoming device. 

In addition to its identification skills, the sensor in Apple’s patent filing also can determine a user’s mood. “Using the detected signals, the electronic device can identify or authenticate the user and perform an operation based on the identity of the user,” the patent indicates. “In some embodiments, the electronic device can determine the user’s mood from the cardiac signals and provide data related to the user’s mood.”

So far, smartphone-based health has been the province of companies like AliveCor, which makes a portable heart monitor that plugs into iOS and Android smartphones. 

Though the ECG sensor is not expected to be integrated into devices immediately, it nevertheless provides a fascinating glimpse into Apple’s R&D efforts. Two-factor biometric security certainly would give Apple a more commanding lead in device-based security, and improving touch screens and their performance is always beneficial. Apple already leads the pack in that regard, too, according to recent comparative tests.