Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Samsung's Galaxy Watch4 to the Rescue

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch4 Series comes with pulse oximeter module and can measure obstructive sleep apnea accurately, reveals a new study.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder, estimated to affect up to 38 per cent of the general adult population.

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‘Samsung's Galaxy Watch4 Series has health features, such as measure obstructive sleep apnea, stress levels and even monitor heart rate.’

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The disorder is generally characterized by repetitive upper airway obstruction during sleep, resulting in oxygen desaturation, frequent arousals, and increased sympathetic activity.

Wearable devices are increasingly being used in healthcare to facilitate continuous real-life monitoring of users’ data.

The study, published by Sleep Health journal, found that wrist-worn trackers, like the Galaxy Watch4, were accurate in continuously measuring oxygen levels in trial patients, enabling researchers to screen for obstructive sleep apnea by analysing data collected by the wearable.

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Galaxy Watch4 comes with a reflectance pulse oximeter module -- located on the underside of the wearable and directly touching the skin -- to measure oxygen saturation levels in peripheral blood (SpO2).

In this study, the team evaluated the estimated SpO2 obtained from a commercially available watch-type wearable device. Previous studies have shown that reflectance pulse oximetry can relatively accurately detect desaturation, except when measurements are performed at high altitudes

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However, wrist-worn reflectance pulse oximetry has more limitations than transmittance pulse oximetry.

Because they are susceptible to motion and noise artefacts, commercially available wearable smartwatches have their own algorithms to enhance PPG measurements.

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In India, the new Bluetooth-only model of Galaxy Watch4 was launched at Rs 23,999 for the 40mm dial size and Rs 26,999 for the 44mm model.

Along with health features such as a heart rate monitor, one of the interesting USPs of the device is that it allows users to monitor their stress levels.

Source-IANS