AirPods — Apple’s truly wireless stereo (TWS) headphones — could double as health monitoring tools in the future, according to a recently published patent application from the United States Patent Office (USPTO). The Cupertino company appears to have invented an AirPods sensor mechanism that allows the earphones to monitor the electrical impulses in the wearer’s brain. The patent describes a system that can monitor brain activity, typically through the use of electrodes on a patient’s head, but using AirPods could provide a more discreet way to monitor brain activity.
Recently applied for a patent publish The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website describes a wearable electronic device equipped with electrodes like Apple AirPods, which is similar to traditional devices used to monitor biological signals such as brain activity, including electroencephalography, electrooculography, galvanic skin response, and blood flow. Take pulse and electromyogram. This allows AirPods wearers to monitor their brain activity even while traveling, without the need for a machine.
Unlike traditional EEG monitors, which are fixed to the user’s scalp, AirPods may move once inserted into the user’s ears. To account for the fact that ears can vary in shape and size, the patent describes a system that integrates active and reference electrodes on the outside of the AirPods body, as well as multiple additional electrodes located at different locations on the earbuds.
Apple’s patent abstract states, “A wearable electronic device includes a sensor circuit and a switching circuit. The switching circuit is operable to electrically connect multiple different subsets of one or more electrodes in a set of electrodes to the sensor circuit.” While the description may It sounds a bit complicated, but the company provides a diagram of the alleged device (Figure 2), which shows the location of the electrodes on the wireless earphones.
Diagram from Apple patent application shows how the technology works
Photo credit: Apple (via USPTO)
The earbuds of these AirPods will be replaceable, according to Apple’s patent application, which also describes a mechanism (Figure 5) that allows users to tap part of the headphone body to start measuring biosignals.
Meanwhile, another image (Figure 10) shows the location of the electrodes and touch-sensitive areas on the earbuds from a different angle, while suggesting that the feature could also be supported on wired headphones such as EarPods or a pair of glasses – according to the document, reference The electrodes and active electrodes will be placed on the first and second temples of the glasses.
It’s unclear whether Apple plans to bring the ability to measure biosignals to its popular AirPods and other wearables, and a recent report suggested the company is exploring adding new health features, such as temperature, to its headphones monitor. Apple is also looking into how to enhance its existing health monitoring products. It is reported that Apple is working on adding non-invasive blood glucose monitoring capabilities to the Apple Watch, which is expected to be included in future versions of the wearable device.
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