New FDA-Cleared Watch Can Detect Sleep Breathing Disorders

Beginning this November, Americans will have the possibility to track their breathing during sleep and the effects it has on their heart rhythm and oxygen saturation levels with ScanWatch—a recently FDA-approved medical-grade smartwatch.

Available for over a year on the European market, the watch designed by the French company Withings will hit the American market with its first-ever FDA-approved ECG and SpO2-reading wearable. 

So, the two soon-to-be-available models—the ScanWatch and the ScanWatch Horizon will be serious competition to Galaxy and Apple smartwatches, as well as Fitbit gadgets. And for several good reasons. 

With this ECG-equipped wearable, one can detect atrial fibrillation and other abnormalities of one’s heart sinus rhythm. 

But, what makes the ScanWatch worthy of its name is the algorithm that combines readings from the ECG, pulse oximeter, movement sensor, and breathing frequency to detect sleep apnea and other breathing disturbances during sleep.

The multiple sensors and their data provide everyone access to their own in-debt sleep quality analysis and try to learn the cause of their exhaustion.

Furthermore, customers can use the ScanWatch to check the efficacy of their CPAP treatment or anti-snoring device and decide on the best treatment for their condition.

As studies have shown, OSA can lead to cardiac arrhythmias, so this will be a handy tool for those 22 million Americans that have sleep apnea. They can monitor the quality of their sleep for up to one month before they need to recharge the battery in this watch.

Besides all the medically advanced features, the ScanWatch can do all the tricks of a typical smartwatch. These include counting steps, calories burned, mapping workout routes, measuring the amount of oxygen consumed per minute, as well as elevation tracking.

The only thing that you won’t get with Withings’ ScanWatch is a touchscreen. The models are designed to look like classic wristwatches, so they are a kind of hybrid between smartwatches and classic watches.