Pixel Watch 3 can now save your life—and it’s FDA-approved

Google’s Pixel Watch 3, released last fall alongside the Pixel 9 family, has received FDA approval for its Loss of Pulse Detection feature, designed to alert users in case of cardiac arrest or other critical health events.

The Pixel Watch 3 includes Loss of Pulse Detection, which can identify impending death due to a stopped heart. Until now, Google could not activate this feature in the U.S. due to regulatory constraints; however, the FDA’s recent go-ahead enables the feature’s activation. Google stated that Loss of Pulse Detection offers enhanced functionality compared to existing health monitoring capabilities found in other smartwatches.

Many smartwatches, including the Pixel Watch and Apple Watch, already monitor for irregular heartbeats or atrial fibrillation (AFib) as indicators of potential strokes or heart attacks. In contrast, Loss of Pulse Detection identifies when a heart stops beating—a circumstance that poses immediate risk, giving the affected individual just a few minutes to receive help.

Google tested the feature using hundreds of thousands of hours of data to ensure reliability and minimize false positives. The watch employs a multi-path heart rate sensor, which can log heart rate data every second and utilize other sensors like body temperature and accelerometer data to differentiate between a removed watch and a deteriorating health condition.

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Upon detecting a loss of pulse, the Pixel Watch 3 can automatically prompt a call to emergency services if the user is unresponsive. Currently available in 14 countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom, the feature will begin rolling out in the U.S. by the end of March. This FDA approval expands the watch’s lifesaving potential, building on existing safety features such as Car Crash Detection and Fall Detection.

Google expressed confidence in the validation of Loss of Pulse Detection technology, emphasizing its first-of-its-kind nature in wearable consumer devices. A research paper published in the journal Nature further substantiates this validation process.

According to Google’s official blog, “Loss of Pulse Detection has received U.S. FDA clearance, and is now available on Pixel Watch 3,” indicating the watch’s capability to alert emergency services during critical health situations.

Featured image credit: Google