Sleep apnea is a common breathing disorder that experts say can go unnoticed by people who suffer from it. With this idea in mind, Samsung and other smartwatch makers have been working for some time to bring to their models the ability to detect symptoms of sleep apnea, and The Korean company was the first to achieve thisafter getting approval from the regulatory body in the United States to bring this feature to the Galaxy Watch.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized Samsung to Build a feature to detect sleep apnea symptoms in your smartwatches. This is the first country in which the company has obtained official authorization, after its home country South Korea, where the government approved the new feature last October.
The Galaxy Watch will now also be able to detect interruptions when breathing
Smart watches have different functions dedicated to health. The most common are: measuring heart rate, measuring blood oxygen saturation, and some models can even measure blood pressure and perform electrocardiograms. However, the same watch usually warns that the measurements it takes do not have complete medical validity, but rather a sort of guide to seeing your doctor and carrying out relevant testsif the specialist decides.
That said, these systems are still accurate enough that government regulators can approve their use, provided they include the necessary disclaimers regarding their use and accuracy. The FDA has now authorized Samsung to include a sleep interruption detection feature in the Galaxy Watch linked to sleep apnea. It is the first watch to receive authorization.
And Apple is also working on adding this feature to the Apple Watch. However, the company still does not have FDA approval and, in addition, it is embroiled in a patent controversy that prevented the Apple Watch from using the oxygen saturation measurement feature of the blood in the United States, at least for now.
The feature will arrive via an update to the Samsung Health Monitor app
Sleep apnea is a relatively common disorder characterized by episodes of respiratory arrest, either by partial obstruction or complete blockage of the airways. This can lead to a decrease in blood oxygen levels and an increase in CO2. According to studies, sleep apnea affects around 4% of adults.
How sleep apnea detection works on Galaxy Watches and when it will be available
To use the sleep apnea detection function, it is necessary sleep using the Galaxy Watch at least twice
The function will pass through a Samsung Health Monitor app update during the third quarter of this year in the United States. Samsung should apply for authorization in more countries to include this function in its watches, in the same way as it has done with functions such as heart rate measurement, among others.
Samsung also recently announced that it is working on a function to measure glucose non-invasively using their wearable devices, something they plan to bring to both the Galaxy Watch and the company’s new smart ring.
Cover photo | Alejandro Alcolea for Xataka
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