Apple Watch electrocardiogram is approved for use in Brazil

Brazilians who own a Apple Watch finally be able to celebrate: the long-awaited electrocardiogram function (ECG) of the device will finally be released in the country. THE Anvisa approved this Monday (25) the release of the use of electrocardiogram (ECG) No. Apple Watch in Brazil, through Resolution-RE 1.635.

Available from Apple Watch Series 4, launched in 2018, the function of electrocardiogram allows the device to monitor the heart rate of its users, and since then it is always mentioned in reports of people who discovered they had heart problems - and sought medical help in time to save themselves - because of the device. Apple . But even if until Apple Watch Series 5 is already officially sold here, until then the function ECG of these devices was not available.

Even with the release this Monday (25), it is still not possible to know exactly when the function will be released for Brazilian users, because this depends on how the Apple is preparing this release. There are three distinct possibilities: that the Apple will make this feature available together with an update that usually only fixes bugs and performance issues (for example, together with a 6.2.6 version of WATCH) or release only in the next numbered update of the device's operating system (that is, only when the company releases the WATCH 6.3).

A third possibility would be the function ECG already be present in the software of these devices, and as soon as the Anvisa publish the official document that releases the use of the function by the Apple Watch Brazilian company, the company will be able to enable this function on their devices remotely, without users having to download any new update. This form of activation has already been used by Apple when the ECG was released in India in September of last year, so there is a recent track record of the company going this route which makes the release much simpler and faster for users.

Why did it take so long for the electrocardiogram arrive in Brazil?

Before blaming the Brazilian government bureaucracy for this delay in releasing the function here in the country, it is necessary to make it clear that the main culprit for this is the Apple , which seems to have had no interest in seeking the release of this function here.

This is because, despite the vast majority of the features of the Apple Watch be released from Anatel, ECG is the responsibility of another national agency, the Anvisa, because it is a function that deals directly with the user's biology. Therefore, it needs to be tested and released by the same entity responsible for ensuring the quality of food and medicines available on the market. Thus, the agency needs different documentation than the Apple send to Anatel to obtain the approval that allows the sale of electronic devices here in Brazil, and it was precisely the lack of this documentation that delayed the entire process.

The first contact of Apple with Anvisa to discuss the release of the role to Brazil took place only in December of last year, and the documents for the registration request were sent to the entity only at the beginning of this month, on May 4th. So, it's not as if the Brazilian bureaucracy was to blame for this, since the Anvisa defined this release much faster than usual, taking just three weeks to complete a process that can take up to 2 months.

At the same time, this delay Apple cannot be seen as something exclusive here for Brazil, as it has been a company policy to slowly expand the release of the function ECG on your devices. This is because, although it was released together with the Apple Watch Series 4 in 2018, for a long time the ECG it was exclusive to devices purchased in the United States, even though the company sold the model around the world.

The expansion of the use of ECG started only in March 2019, when the function was also released for European Union countries and for Hong Kong, and since then the company has been gradually activating this function in all other markets in which it is present.

Source: Anvisa