The Apple Watch’s ECG functionality has been available since the debut of the Apple Watch Series 4 in 2018 and allows users in select regions of the world to measure the electric activity of their heart. Now, recent government filings indicate Apple will soon be bringing the ECG feature to Brazil and Japan.
MacOtakara reports Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) recently updated its list of registered foreign manufacturers to include Apple as a “certified entity.” While the list makes no mention of the ECG function, it is likely that the certification is related to the ECG functionality in the Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 models.
Meanwhile, 9to5Mac the Brazilian government announced the approval of Apple’s ECG app on March 25, 2020. Apple will now likely soon update the Apple Watch software for users in both countries to enable the electrocardiogram feature and irregular heart notifications on their devices.
Apple is required to gain approval from national government health agencies before enabling and marketing the ECG feature in a specific country. The Watch had U.S. FDA clearance for the feature when the Apple Watch Series 4 launched in 2018.
The ECG and Irregular Rhythm Notification features are available in the following countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- Chile
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Guam
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Romania
- Samoa
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- UK
- USA
- US Virgin Islands
