Samsung Announces AI-powered Sleep Apnea Detection on Galaxy Watches and Ring: Here’s How It Works

Samsung is now introducing an upgraded version of its sleep apnea risk detection tool for its Galaxy Watches and Galaxy Ring wearables. The upgraded tool which was first made available with the Galaxy Watch 4 will now use AI to track and detect breathing disruptions when a user sleeps. Like the previous feature, this one too requires training the model with at least five hours of sleep before they can get results. Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder where breathing disruptions can impact sleep quality. These disruptions can be caused due to a number of reasons and result in loud snoring, morning headache, daytime fatigue and more.

Samsung Introduces AI-powered Sleep Apnea Detection on Galaxy Watches and Galaxy Ring

The earlier US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sleep apnea feature has been available in several countries across the globe on Samsung wearables including select Galaxy Watch models and its Galaxy Ring.

The upgraded feature does not just detect regular signs of sleep apnea (which is what the old version used), but also adds AI to the mix. According to Samsung (in Korean), an AI algorithm constantly tracks sleep disruptions and now sorts them into three levels based on frequency. Currently these have been defined as mild, occasional and frequent. Samsung claims that its upgraded AI-powered sleep apnea risk detection feature has been approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in South Korea. The currently available feature only detects the presence or absence of signs of sleep apnea.

Samsung in its report claims numbers by the National Sleep Foundation in the USA, which states that about 25 percent of men and 10 percent of women suffer from sleep apnea. However, there is a significant number of people who are unaware of it, which poses a bigger health risk in the long run. Sleep apnea is often connected with hypertension, arrhythmia, and stroke.

The company claims that its new AI-based sleep apnea detection feature will first roll-out in South Korea starting November. Samsung will make the feature available on the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, Galaxy Watch 9 series and the Galaxy Ring. The roll-out will then gradually be extended to the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch 8 series devices equipped with WearOS 7.0 and higher through future firmware updates. Once available, users will have to wear their Galaxy wearable for at least 5 hours of sleep twice within 10 days before the system can deliver results.

Even though Samsung says that its AI-based sleep apnea detection delivers far better results, the brand claims that it is meant to detect and sleep apnea for users with no history of the disorder and does not “replace professional medical diagnosis or counseling”.