Samsung announced this morning that the Galaxy Watch series has received FDA approval to detect sleep apnea. The move is big for the smartwatch category, where health and fitness now make up the majority of new features. For the past several years, the industry has focused on heart monitoring and blood oxygen sensing as it searches for the next big thing.
Non-invasive glucose monitoring is a common option. This would certainly be a game changer for millions living with diabetes. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a widespread problem in its own right, with approximately 39 million Americans living with the condition, National Council on Aging.
Globally, that number rises to 936 million – a huge number for a potentially fatal condition. What’s worse is that most people who have it are undiagnosed. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that this percentage reaches 80% of those affected.
OSA is the more common of two varieties of sleep apnea (along with central sleep apnea). It blocks the sleeper’s upper airway, thus restricting breathing. It can increase the chance of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart and kidney failure, high blood pressure, and stroke, among other conditions.
“The sleep apnea feature will allow users over the age of 22 who have not been diagnosed with sleep apnea to detect signs of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) over a two-night monitoring period, a common and chronic sleep condition that often goes undiagnosed and without treatment,” writes Samsung. “To use the feature, users will simply be able to track their sleep twice for more than four hours within a ten-day period.”
The Galaxy Watch isn’t the first consumer product to promise sleep apnea monitoring. Withings’ pretty good Sleep pad also offers the functionality. Towards the beginning of the pandemic, the French company also announced a watch with this functionality.
