FDA has not been overly aggressive with Apple Watch regulation

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has largely been hands-off in regards to regulation of the upcoming Apple Watch smartwatch wearable.

Silicon Valley companies are interested in providing wearables and other technology that encroaches on health care - and the FDA is offering feedback when appropriate. However, Apple Watch and other solutions are still in their infancy, so the FDA won't need to intervene in the immediate future.

"We are taking a very light touch, an almost hands-off approach," said Bakul Patel, associate director for digital health at the FDA, while speaking with Bloomberg Business. "If you have technology that's going to motivate a person to stay healthy, that's not something we want to be engaged in."

The FDA is trying to figure out its role as consumers and companies show interest in health care and mobile product offerings. Samsung and other manufacturers are developing technologies that will be able to collect medical data, as software algorithms are increasingly focused on helping medical patients track data.