Samsung has announced that it is expanding the list of countries in which the sleep apnea risk detection feature is available on Galaxy smartwatches. At the same time, the company reminded owners of its devices how useful this feature is.
Apnea is a pause in breathing during sleep for 10 seconds or more. During these periods of time, a person does not receive enough oxygen, and if they become more frequent, the risk of developing cardiovascular and other diseases increases, daytime sleepiness worsens, cognitive function declines, productivity decreases, and other symptoms appear. A person may not know that they have such a condition. The apnea detection function is designed to recognize signs of pathology and notify the watch user about their appearance.
With the Samsung Health Monitor app update, the list of countries where the feature is available includes Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norfolk Island, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Réunion, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen.
This was made possible by obtaining the CE mark (Conformité Européenne, or “European Conformity”), which allows the distribution of the function in Europe. In addition, in this context, Samsung has the approvals of the following regulatory bodies:
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Health Authority of Singapore
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Health Canada
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Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia
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Brazilian health regulatory authority ANVISA
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Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea
Samsung also has De Novo clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — the first of its kind for a wearable device — approving algorithms to detect signs of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.