Apple Watch ECG feature coming to Japan and Brazil

San Francisco, June 7 (IANS) Apple Watch's ECG feature as well as irregular heart rhythm notifications have saved many lives globally and now the tech giant is looking to extend the ECG feature to Japan and Brazil, based on recent government filings.

Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) recently updated its list of registered foreign manufacturers to include Apple as a certified entity, reports MacOtakara.

Brazil's Health Regulatory Agency ANVISA in May also announced passage of a new resolution approving Apple Watch's irregular heart rate notification and ECG features for use by consumers.

Apple is likely to issue an update to Watch users in these two countries to enable the electrocardiogram feature and irregular heart notifications on their devices.

Available with an update to watchOS 6 on Apple Watch Series 4 and later, the ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notification feature will help users identify signs of AFib, the most common form of irregular rhythm.

Apple won the US FDA clearance to promote the function when the Apple Watch Series 4 launched in 2018.

Saudi Arabia was the last country to gain ECG functionality and irregular heart rhythm notifications and the company is currently running tests with watchOS 6.2.8 beta.

--IANS

wh/na/sdr