Apple has acquired Sonera, a California-based startup developing technology that can measure magnetic fields generated by the brain and muscles without touching the skin.
The acquisition closed earlier this year, according to a filing published Tuesday on the European Commission’s website. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Sonera’s technology centers on a biomagnetic chip that detects neuromuscular signals without direct skin contact.
In a 2023 press release, the company said its system could make “brain activity as easy to measure as heart rate, temperature, and other physiological signals.”
That’s different from the sensors currently used in devices such as Apple Watch, which rely on optical or electrical measurements through contact with the skin. Those sensors can be affected by factors such as movement, fit, and water.
What Sonera’s technology can measure
Sonera developed its chip for applications including prosthetic control, continuous monitoring of neuromuscular conditions, disease biomarker detection, and sports performance tracking.
The company also described it as a potential foundation for a new class of wearables built around muscle activity.
For Apple, the technology could open up new ways to monitor the body through a device worn on the wrist. A sensor that detects muscle and neural activity without skin contact could collect information that today’s Apple Watch hardware cannot.
Apple Watch already handles several types of health monitoring, including irregular heart rhythm detection and temperature sensing. Neuromuscular sensing would take the device into a different area altogether.
Where Apple could take it
Health sensing has become an increasingly important part of the Apple Watch. Apple has added ECG, temperature sensing and other health features over successive generations, and owning Sonera’s technology gives the company control over both the underlying hardware and its development.
For now, though, there is no indication that Sonera’s technology is coming to the next Apple Watch. The European Commission filing confirms the acquisition but does not say what Apple plans to do with the technology or when it might appear in a product.
Apple often acquires smaller technology companies for their engineering talent and intellectual property, and new technology can take years to make its way into a shipping device.
As usual, Apple offered little detail, saying only that it “buys smaller technology companies from time to time.”
