The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is now almost certain to come with built-in sleep apnea detection, after Samsung's sensor technology was officially cleared for this purpose by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US.
As Samsung notes in a press release (via 9to5Google), it is the first company to obtain such authorization for sleep apnea in the United States. It means the FDA believes the detection algorithms are reliable enough that Samsung devices could be marketed as capable of detecting the condition.
In other words, we can expect the Galaxy Watch 7 to be announced as having sleep apnea detection capabilities when it arrives later this year. This does not mean that detection will be foolproof or that it can replace diagnosis by a trained doctor, as Samsung makes clear in its announcement.
The feature will be available in the third quarter of this year, Samsung says, so we assume that refers to the Galaxy Watch 7 (due out around July or August). There's no word on whether it will come to older watches in the US, although Samsung mentions the “Galaxy Watch series” in its post, and it's already enabled on current models in South Korea.
Deep sleep
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition in which the airways become blocked during sleep. It often goes unnoticed and untreated, but it can cause people to temporarily stop breathing, reducing the body's oxygen supply and quality of sleep.
OSA is also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, and stroke. About 25% of men and 10% of women in the US are believed to suffer from OSA, and Samsung expects to detect more cases.
As we previously reported, this has been going on for a while; As we said, Samsung has already received authorization to enable the feature on its smartwatches in South Korea. Two nights of blood oxygen readings are required for sleep apnea detection to work and is suitable for people over 22 years of age.
It is a key feature that other manufacturers are very interested in. It's already available on Withings products, and Apple is busy trying to add it to the Apple Watch, despite its current patent dispute over blood oxygen monitoring, which is key to detecting sleep apnea. , it may mean we don't see him for a while.
