Samsung Invites Users to Test Sleep Apnea Detection Function on GalaxyWatch

TapTechNews July 10th news, according to feedback from Reddit community users, Samsung has invited some GalaxyWatch smartwatch users to test the "Sleep Apnea Detection" function.

Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can cause people to stop breathing while sleeping, often resulting in interrupted oxygen supply, reduced sleep quality, and daytime fatigue.

Untreated sleep apnea can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, and stroke.

According to data from the National Sleep Foundation in the US, approximately 25% of men and 10% of women have obstructive sleep apnea, and among them, 3 people fail to recognize their symptoms or seek treatment.

Regulatory Approval

TapTechNews sorted out previous reports and briefly summarized the situation of passing regulatory agencies as follows:

Approved by the Korean regulatory agency in October 2023

Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in February 2024

This is the first time among consumer smartwatches, and the Apple AppleWatch currently does not have this function. Gurman previously exposed that the Apple AppleWatch S10 will follow up and have this function.

Working Principle

According to the screenshots of the OneUI6 WatchBeta project shared by netizens, after updating the SamsungHealthMonitor application, the "Sleep Apnea Detection" (SleepApnea) function can be activated on the GalaxyWatch.

According to the official introduction of Samsung, the sleep apnea detection function can monitor the blood oxygen level during sleep by utilizing the BioActive sensor of the GalaxyWatch, and identify moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea by analyzing how the detected blood oxygen value changes to apnea/hypopnea, and then estimate the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI).

It can be seen from the screenshot that this function requires the user to wear the watch for two nights during sleep. The watch will track the user's sleep for at least 4 hours each night and monitor the relative decrease in blood oxygen levels.

After two nights, this function will automatically close and provide the user with the results, showing the possibility of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Requirements of the "Sleep Apnea Detection" function:

GalaxyWatch 4 and subsequent smartwatches

At least WearOS 5.0 (OneUI 6)

At least Android 9 system