Masimo CEO Kiani says consumers should avoid using the Apple Watch pulse oximeter،
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Bloomberg, Joe Kiani, CEO of Masimo, whose company holds a patent on the pulse oximeter used by Apple on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 without authorization, says consumers are better off not using Apple's version of the technology. While a federal appeals court has decided not to grant Apple a longer reprieve from the International Trade Commission's import ban on the two aforementioned Apple Watch models, Apple has made the decision to disable the pulse oximeter on newer versions of watches.
Apple Watch Series 9 And
Apple Watch Ultra2 models with the pulse oximeter disabled went on sale in physical and online US Apple Stores starting last Wednesday. You can tell if an Apple Watch inside a box has the pulse oximeter feature enabled or disabled by looking at a string of characters on the product box that starts with the letter M and ends with LL/A or LW/A. The latter has the pulse oximeter disabled while the former has the feature enabled.
So if the Apple Watch's pulse oximeter shouldn't be used by consumers, what does Masimo's Kiani think people should do? In an interview Thursday on Bloomberg TV, Masimo's CEO said consumers should instead buy pulse oximeters from Masimo or other companies. “Apple is marketing what it's offering to consumers as a reliable medical pulse oximeter, even though it's not,” Kiani said. “I really wholeheartedly believe that consumers are better off without it.”
Masimo's $300 Pulse Oximeter
Apple responded by saying that Masimo's CEO was wrong and that its pulse oximeter, which measures the oxygen saturation level in a person's blood, is accurate, works well for consumers and can save lives.
Kiani said: “Pulse oximetry is only useful if it is a continuous monitor. This happens during sleep. During sleep, you might have desaturation which could be related to apnea. You may have dangerous desaturation to relieve pain from opioids you may have taken. . This is where the value comes from. But Apple says its pulse oximeter wasn't designed to be a continuous monitor and performs on-demand spot checks and intermittent checks of blood oxygen levels.
Apple also noted that despite the implications of Kiani's comments, the ongoing measurements the executive described do not guarantee a device's accuracy. Apple says accuracy is determined by comparing a pulse oximeter's readings to high-quality reference data.
While Apple can only sell the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra2 In the United States, with the pulse oximeter disabled, the company also has the option to settle the lawsuit and license Masimo's infringed patent. Kiani said he hasn't spoken to anyone from Apple about a settlement and added that no one from Apple has contacted him to talk.
