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The Galaxy Watch smartwatch devices will soon have yet another uncommon health feature in the form of sleep apnea detection. Samsung announced back in October 2023 that this feature was given approval by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Now it’s been given approval by the FDA in the US.
Samsung says this feature is the “first of its kind” to gain FDA approval, which makes this kind of a big deal. Not just for Samsung, but for anyone who might end up developing sleep apnea. If you’re unfamiliar with what sleep apnea is, it’s a sleep disorder that can manifest in two different ways — obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. Obstructive is more common, and this type essentially closes up your airways making it more difficult to breathe. Central sleep apnea prevents your brain from sending signals to your breathing muscles.
In both types, the person affected ends up having trouble sleeping. Which can have a negative impact on long-term health. This new feature aims to help alert wearers of Galaxy Watch devices to possible signs of sleep apnea so they can catch it earlier on. Sleep apnea doesn’t have a cure but it is possible to lessen the impact it has on you. CPAP machines are one way you can do this. These stimulate positive airflow by keeping the breathing airways open during sleep. And with this new watch feature, you might be able to discover sooner if this is something you’ll need.
The sleep apnea feature on Galaxy Watch will detect obstructive sleep apnea only
Now that you’re aware of what two types of sleep apnea there are, here’s what you can expect from the feature on Samsung’s watches. It’ll attempt to detect signs of obstructive sleep apnea over a cycle of two nights. Users will need to enable sleep tracking on the watch and track their sleep for at least four hours. This has to be done twice in a ten-day period Samsung says. The watch will monitor for signs in people over the age of 22 who haven’t already had sleep apnea diagnosed. The feature will only detect OSA though and not CSA according to Samsung’s press release. The feature will however be able to detect signs of moderate and severe OSA.
This disorder often goes unnoticed and untreated, so Samsung is aiming to help people recognize this disorder more often. Sleep is a huge part of good health and it’s why Samsung and other brands have been so focused on providing better sleep monitoring features in their wearables. From tracking REM sleep to giving you pointers on how to improve your sleep in the future.
The feature will require a compatible Galaxy phone
Naturally, you’ll need a compatible Galaxy device to use the new sleep apnea feature once it goes live. Samsung doesn’t list when the feature will be rolled out though, or which phones will need to be connected to one of its watches. Furthermore, it doesn’t mention which watches will support this feature either.
However, it’s a pretty safe bet that the most recent watches will be compatible. This would likely include the Galaxy Watch 6 series and the Galaxy Watch 5 series. Likewise, with the phones, you can expect the Galaxy S24 series and the Galaxy S23 series to have support. That being said, it’s also highly likely that many of Samsung’s other Galaxy phones will be compatible as well.