Is Apple Trying To Get Its Feet Wet in The Medical Field?
Even though there aren’t appearing to produce appliances meant for health care, we see more and more Apple devices used in the medical and health field.
A couple of weeks ago, Apple released the new iPhone 13 models, and already we’ve got to see some amazing things you can do with this powerful device. Think of the cinematic feature, the great-looking display with up to 120Hz refresh rate, the ProRes video format for some models, and much more.
But what we haven’t seen yet is using the iPhone in the medical space. Until this week, when a doctor found that it is helpful to capture details of a patients’ eyes that are difficult to see with the naked eye. The iPhone can zoom in and reveal these details thanks to its camera and the Macro mode (not macro lens).
So despite missing a Macro lens, Apple has given the iPhone 13 Pro the ability to capture detailed pictures from everyday objects. To make this possible, they upgraded the ultra-wide lens and gave it a larger f/1.8 aperture and a 120-degree field of view. This way, the iPhone can zoom in quite a bit.
So why is this relevant? Well, This ophthalmologist threaded a patient with cornea transplantation and wanted to see if this surgery healed the corneal abrasion. Therefore he came up with the brilliant idea to use his new iPhone 13 Pro to get a closer look at his patient’s eye.
He tweeted:
“Been using the iPhone 13 Pro Max for MACRO eye photos this week. Impressed. Will innovate patient eye care & telemedicine. forward to seeing where it goes… Photos are from healing a resolving abrasion in a cornea transplant. Permission was obtained to use photos. PS: this “Pro camera” includes a telephone app too!”
But he is not the only one finding this feature helpful. Jeffrey Lewis, an Optometrist by profession, thinks that this feature will significantly help the telemedicine field.
And this is not the first time Apple devices are being useful for health purposes. For example, with its blood oxygen sensor, the Apple Watch can now measure blood oxygen levels. For most of you, this feature shouldn’t be something new. But what’s remarkable, though, is that Singapore has partnered up with Apple on the health initiative LumiHealth to enable its citizens to use the Apple Watch while exercising.
Apple and Singapore partnered up to encourage people to use the Apple Watch during healthy activities.
The Apple Watch sends signals and insights to Singaporeans to remind and inform them about the importance of staying active. This way, people should be more conscious about the importance of having a balanced diet and exercise regularly.
That’s being said, can we conclude that Apple is slowly moving towards a medical field? In other words, are they branching out to the health care sector? Well, the answer might be yes.
As a matter of fact, If we should believe Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, then we can conclude that Apple intended to contribute to healthcare. In a recent interview with CNBC he said:
“We are taking what has been with the institution and empowering the individual to manage their health. And we’re just at the front end of this,” he said. “But I do think, looking back, in the future, you will answer that question: Apple’s most important contribution to mankind has been in health.”
But honestly, Apple hasn’t released many products from which we can conclude that there are meant to help revolutionize the medical world. Granted, we have the Apple Watch with its blood oxygen sensor, but that’s pretty much it. If we compare it to other companies, such as Philips, where they focus on producing devices meant for hospitals and surgery purposes, Apple is just getting the ball rolling.
