Google Pixel Watch 3 detects cardiac arrest and alerts rescuers
Google's smartwatches may save lives in an emergency by detecting falls, accidents and loss of heart rate. Functions are now being activated for German users.
(Image: Google)
Google has now also activated health safety functions for its smartwatches and smartphones for German users, which have been rolled out in Germany since December 5.
Car crash detection is available on Google Pixel smartphones and for the Pixel Watch 2 and 3. According to the blog entry, fall detection is supported by all Pixel Watch generations. There is also a "pulse loss detection" feature for the Pixel Watch 3.
It is nothing new that smart wearables or sensors can detect falls and alert emergency services. However, no smartwatch has yet been able to simultaneously assess the pulse and detect the event of a loss of pulse to alert the emergency services as a "technical witness".
A loss of pulse can be triggered by a cardiac arrest, for example, which can affect people of any age – then every minute counts in an emergency rescue. The smartwatch can recognize the medical emergency and automatically alert the rescue coordination center if the person concerned is no longer able to do so themselves, is unconscious or helpless and there is no one else who can recognize the emergency and provide assistance. To activate the new function, the user must opt in as part of a guided onboarding process.
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From event detection to emergency call
Google has developed a multi-stage process for detecting loss of heart rate and alerting the emergency services. The smartwatch continuously monitors the user's pulse with the green light frequency sensor for the heart rate. If it detects signs of a lack of pulse, further infrared and red light sensors (photoplethysmography) are activated to look for additional signs of a pulse, while the motion sensor searches for movements of the user. An algorithm based on artificial intelligence combines the information from the sensors to confirm a loss of pulse, i.e. cardiac arrest, and then triggers an initial alarm in the form of a safety check. The watch vibrates and a question appears on the display asking whether the user is well. At the same time, it searches for movement. If the person does not respond to the question and no movement is detected, the next stage is activated. A countdown appears, the watch vibrates continuously and also emits an acoustic alarm.
The user can cancel the countdown manually at any time
If the user does not respond, the smartwatch as an LTE watch or the smartphone to which the Pixel Watch 3 is connected attempts to make an emergency call independently after the countdown has expired and calls the emergency services. If a connection is established, a voice message is played in the language of the user's current location. The message informs the rescue coordination center that the smartwatch has detected a loss of heart rate and that the user is not responding, as well as the location of the device in the form of X and Y coordinates. If the Emergency Location Service (ELS) is active, Android can send more data to the control center in the background via Advanced Mobile Location in an emergency.
During the emergency call, the device's microphone is permanently activated and both the user and bystanders can speak to the emergency control center.
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Google wants to make the Pixel Watch a "guardian of health and safety" for users. Google worked with cardiologists to develop the new function. The algorithm was tested with hundreds of thousands of hours of real user data from a diverse group of people. The aim was to reduce the frequency of unintentional emergency calls. When new automatic emergency call functions are introduced, false alarms sometimes occur more frequently, as Apple's accident detection in ski resorts or on rollercoaster rides showed.
The Björn Steiger Foundation warns that false emergency calls triggered by fall detection in smartwatches tie up important emergency service resources that may be needed elsewhere. Google's smartwatch with pulse loss detection is welcomed by the foundation as a first concrete step towards improving alerting in the event of unobserved cardiac arrest: "This could significantly improve response times and increase the chances of survival".
To confirm that the system can work in emergencies, Google carried out tests with stunt performers. An artificially induced loss of pulse was triggered by putting on tourniquets, and the test subjects then simulated falls that could happen in the event of a sudden loss of pulse.
Google explains that the function was validated in a clinical study. The study involved 135 adults of different backgrounds, genders and ages. The results showed a sensitivity of 69.3 percent among 135 users. This means that if 100 people suffer a loss of pulse, the device does not detect this in 31 people. The specificity was analyzed using evaluable data from 131 participants in this study. The evaluation showed that in over 7.75 years of use, there was only one false positive call, i.e. one case in which the device thought it had detected a loss of pulse, even though there was none.
So far only approved and available in Europe
The new function is subject to approval restrictions by the regulatory authorities for medical devices. As emergency calls are initiated automatically, agreements must also be made with the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) in the respective countries.
The "Loss of Pulse Detection" is stored as software in the European Database on Medical Devices (EUDAMED) in accordance with the EU Medical Devices Regulation. It has been classified as Class IIa, which is generally low to medium risk.
From September 2024, Google has started to make pulse loss detection available for the Google Pixel Watch 3 in "selected European countries". Currently, the feature can be used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
"Other countries will be added as soon as regulatory approval has been obtained," says Google. In the USA, "Loss of Pulse Detection" has not yet been approved or evaluated as a product by the US FDA.
Detailed information on the safety functions in emergencies for the various generations of the Google Pixel Watch and on Loss of Pulse Detection can be found on the Google help pages. It also explains how the functions can be deactivated.
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