Samsung is set to make a significant stride in health monitoring technology with the introduction of a sleep apnea detection feature in its Health Monitor app for the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 6 series. The primary objective is to identify obstructive sleep apnea symptoms in their early stages, providing a vital opportunity for intervention.
The innovation hinges on the utilization of the “Galaxy Watch’s BioActive Sensor” to continuously monitor a person’s blood oxygen level during sleep. This monitoring is crucial for recognizing the severity of sleep apnea, a condition where individuals experience interruptions in their breathing while asleep, leading to a disruption in the body’s oxygen supply. Such interruptions not only result in lower sleep quality but can also lead to additional health complications, including but not limited to hypertension, cardiac disorders, and strokes.
Once the smartwatch collects sleep data, it meticulously analyzes how the detected blood oxygen values fluctuate, especially when affected by apnea or hypopnea. It distinguishes between the two conditions, with hypopnea causing a slowing of breathing without complete cessation.
The critical output of this analysis is the estimation of the Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI), representing the average number of apnea and hypopnea events occurring per hour of sleep. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), a range of five to 15 events per hour indicates a mild case, 15 to 30 signifies a moderate case, and beyond 30 indicates a severe case.
Samsung emphasizes that this feature will be user-friendly. Users will only need to track their sleep twice within a span of 10 days to gauge whether they exhibit these symptoms. Importantly, each sleep session must be of a duration exceeding four hours for accurate results.
However, there’s a caveat to this exciting development—it’s currently exclusive to South Korea. The company awaits approval from the Korean government before officially releasing the update, expected in early 2024. Nevertheless, there’s strong reason to believe that the sleep apnea detection tool will eventually be available internationally.
Several factors contribute to this optimism. First, the announcement was made on Samsung’s global newsroom in English, alongside the Korean version. It also cites information from American medical institutions, such as the National Sleep Foundation. Moreover, it references other health functions like blood pressure monitoring, ECG scans, and irregular health rhythm notifications, all of which are present in recent Galaxy Watch models.
