At its It’s Glowtime event on Monday, Apple announced that it’s adding a new Apple Watch feature that can alert users to sleep apnea, a health condition that causes you to stop breathing when you’re asleep. Apple says it expects to receive FDA clearance for the feature “very soon.”
The feature will be available on the new Apple Watch 10, as well as the Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2.
To detect sleep apnea, the supported models use the accelerometer to monitor a new metric during sleep called “breathing disturbances,” and will notify users if it finds signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea.
You can view your nightly values in the Health app, and you can get a detailed report from that app to share with your doctor.
“The detection algorithm was developed using advanced machine learning with an extensive dataset of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests,” said Dr. Sumbul Desai, vice president of Health at Apple during the event. “It was then validated in a clinical study unprecedented in size for sleep apnea technology. We are so excited about the incredible impact this feature can make for the millions of people living with undiagnosed sleep apnea.”
The feature will be available in more than 150 countries and regions this month, including the U.S., Europe and Japan.
