Apple Watch’s sleep apnea detector gets FDA approval

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the sleep apnea detection feature for Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.

The Sleep Apnea Notification Feature (SANF) received official approval on the FDA website. Users who own either of the devices will be able to access the added detection from Monday (Sep, 16).

The “groundbreaking” health features from Apple were announced earlier this month. The company continues expanding into the healthcare tech market with sleep apnea notifications on the Apple Watch and hearing health functions for the AirPods Pro 2.

The condition known as sleep apnea affects individuals by hampering their ability to breathe during sleep. Due to the condition, breathing can be irregular, stopping and starting while they sleep. Risks linked to sleep apnea include high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes.

“Empowering consumers everywhere to have the ability to reliably identify the presence of abnormal breathing patterns during sleep can help uncover a woefully underdiagnosed and serious medical condition such as sleep apnea,” said Sairam Parthasarathy, M.D., University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Sleep, Circadian, and Neurosciences’s professor and director in Tucson, Arizona. “This is a major step forward in improving public health.”

Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 users can view the “Breathing Disturbances” metric in the Apple Health App and track their reports over a one-month, six-month, or one-year period.

Users can also export a PDF showing the sleep apnea record when consulting a specialist or a medical professional. The Health App also provides further reading to help users better understand how the condition can affect them.

Apple says the “advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests. The feature was then validated in a clinical study — unprecedented in size for sleep apnea technology.”

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO posted about the Apple Watch Series 10 on X (formerly Twitter) earlier in September, announcing the incoming sleep features that have now been confirmed:

Apple Watch Series 10 is our most personal and intelligent model yet. With a sleek new design and faster charging, it also provides users with new health features like sleep apnea detection, putting your health firmly in your hands. And on your wrist. pic.twitter.com/CRDBnjFXFn

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 9, 2024

Image: Apple.

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