(Credit: Andrew Gebhart/PCMag)
Google has received FDA approval for an AI-powered loss of pulse detection feature on the Pixel Watch 3, allowing the smartwatch to detect when its owner's heart stops beating.
"This first-of-its-kind feature can detect when you’ve experienced a loss of pulse (your heart stops beating from an event like primary cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose or poisoning) and automatically prompt a call to emergency services for potentially life-saving care if you’re unresponsive," Google says.
The US joins 14 other countries in allowing the feature. Google intends to roll it out to US owners by the end of March. Find it under the watch's Safety & emergency settings.
Per Google, loss of pulse detection uses the watch's existing heart rate sensor—the blinking green light on the bottom of the watch—along with an AI algorithm that processes the data. Once it detects a loss of pulse, it will make a good-faith effort to alert the user to ensure that it isn't a false alarm. If the watch detects no motion and the watch owner doesn't respond, the watch will automatically dial emergency services to request aid.
The CDC says that 356,000 people suffer from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year, and approximately 60% to 80% of them don't make it to the hospital. Cardiac arrest can be caused by any number of conditions and the CDC also points out that cardiac arrest is not the same thing as a heart attack.
Loss of pulse detection joins a growing list of medical-focused features on the Pixel Watch series, including crash detection that calls the authorities after it detects a traffic accident, along with metrics like skin temperature and an ECG function. Many of those features are also available on the Pixel Watch 2, making the loss of pulse detection feature one of the reasons to opt for the newer Pixel Watch 3.