A quartet of cardiologists is trying to revive health-monitoring tech outfit AliveCor's antitrust lawsuit over the Apple Watch, arguing that changes made to the iMaker's gadget "resulted in a loss of access to a potentially life-saving product."
The Apple Watch EKG found something unexpected in my heart
The doctors argue in their amicus brief [PDF] filed this week with the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that when Apple's watchOS 5 replaced its Heart Rate Path Optimizer (HRPO) algorithm with a Heart Rate Neural Network (HRNN) and Irregular Rhythm Notifications ( IRN), it made wearables worse at monitoring heart health.
To catch you up on this sordid tale: AliveCor, which makes electrocardiography (ECG) hardware and software, tried to sue Apple in 2021 on antitrust grounds, accusing iGiant of unfairly trying to monopolize the personal heart rate monitoring market.
AliveCor argued that the changes introduced in watchOS 5 – dumping HRPO for HRNN and IRN – meant that its Apple smartwatch app SmartRhythm could not access a wearer's full heart rate data, reducing its capabilities and had to be pulled, hence the antitrust complaint. Prior to watchOS 5, SmartRhythm used the entire data stream to continuously study the watch's wearer's heart rate and prompt them to record a full EKG with other equipment if the readings indicated something was wrong. AliveCor offered separate FDA-approved EKG equipment, such as a special watch strap, to do just that.
