Apple Hires Chief Medical Officer From Pulse Oximetry Company Masimo, Possibly for iWatch Team

Thursday January 30, 2014 3:10 pm PST by Juli CloverOver the course of the last year, Apple has made several hires from the medical and sensor field, presumably to bolster the team of experts working on its much-rumored smart watch project, and MacRumors today learned of another high-profile sensor expert that has joined the company.

Michael O'Reilly, M.D., formerly the Chief Medical Officer and EVP of Medical Affairs at Masimo Corporation, left his position in July of 2013 to take on a role at Apple, possibly on the iWatch team. News of O'Reilly's employment at Apple was first leaked to MobiHealthNews last week and when contacted for comment earlier today, Masimo told MacRumors it "could not dispute" what had been reported.

While O'Reilly was at Masimo, the company developed several cutting edge pulse oximetry devices, including the iSpO2 Pulse Oximeter that connects to the iPhone and gives readings via an accompanying app. The iSpO2, which takes its readings from a finger, is designed to measure both oxygen saturation in the blood and pulse rate, with technology that allows it to take readings during movement and with low blood flow.

The iSpO2 Pulse Oximeter for iPhone
While it is not clear what position O'Reilly holds with Apple or how his pulse oximetry expertise will be used by the company, he does join a number of other hires in the medical field that have reportedly been recruited for the iWatch team. In 2013, Apple hired several scientists and executives from notable sensor companies like AccuVein, C8 MediSensors, and Senseonics, and two weeks ago, another report pointed to two additional hires in the sensor field.

Reports have suggested that Apple's smart watch project, the iWatch, could focus heavily on health sensors and biometrics, possibly including features like a pedometer and a heart rate monitor. Apple's multitude of hires in the health field does suggest, however, that the company could include even more advanced sensor technology in the iWatch or in a future product.

With the addition of O'Reilly, Apple has now hired employees with expertise in pulse oximetry, vasculature visualization (vein finding), non-invasive glucose monitoring, blood chemistry monitoring via microneedle, heart/breath rate monitoring, and fitness. Notably, several hires have also had experience with low-profile, non-invasive biosensor devices.

On his LinkedIn page, O'Reilly is also listed as both an Adjunct Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan and a Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care at the University of California, Irvine.

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Rumored 'Healthbook' App for iOS 8 Suggests Significant Health Component to iWatch

Apple is developing a new app expected to be released alongside iOS 8 that collects and organizes information and data points related to the users health, including fitness statistics from the new M7 processor in the iPhone 5s, and possibly other data collected from a new wearable product, reports 9to5Mac.

The app, reportedly called Healthbook, will be a preinstalled app that can track data points including a user's blood pressure, hydration, heart rate and potentially other statistics like glucose levels. It could also remind users to take medications at certain times during the day.

The "Healthbook" application is said to take multiple user interface cues from Apple’s own Passbook app, which is software for storing loyalty cards, coupons, and other materials normally stored in physical wallets.

The new health and fitness application’s interface is a stack of cards that can be easily swiped between. Each card represents a different fitness or health data point. The prototype logo for "Healthbook" is similar to Passbook’s icon, but it is adorned with graphics representing vital signs.

9to5Mac also reports that Apple is designing iOS 8 with the iWatch in mind, saying that sources suggest the iWatch and iPhone will be "heavily reliant" on each other for health tracking. The iWatch will also include some mapping abilities as well.

The site suggests that the iWatch will include the ability to measure statistics that the Healthbook app can measure -- including glucose levels and heart rate -- though nothing concrete is known. It does say that sources suggest Apple has been able to combine several different health sensors into one chipset in order to make them all smaller.

Apple is also working on significant new features for its Maps app, including transit directions, though that feature still has significant amounts of work to be done and is not a "lock" to be included in iOS 8, claims the site.

The New York Times reported earlier today that several Apple executives met with the FDA last month to discuss mobile medical applications. One expert said the meeting could be "to get the lay of the land for regulatory pathways with medical devices and apps" or "that Apple has been trying to push something through the F.D.A. for a while and they’ve had hangups."

Apple has made a number of health-related hires in the past year, including employees with expertise in health sensors and other mobile health devices.

iOS 8 is expected to be previewed at WWDC in June, while the iWatch -- which 9to5Mac says is "well into development" -- and new models of the iPhone are expected in the second half of the year.

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