Apple Watch's Sleep Apnea Detection Feature Receives FDA Clearance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today published clearance of sleep apnea detection on newer Apple Watch models, as reported by TechCrunch.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious disorder in which a person's breathing repeatedly stops and starts while they sleep.

Apple last week announced that sleep apnea detection would be available on the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the U.S. and more than 150 other countries and regions later this month. Apple's fine print says the feature is intended to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea for people 18 years old or older who have not already been diagnosed with sleep apnea.

The sleep apnea detection feature uses the Apple Watch's accelerometer to "monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns," according to Apple. If these disturbances occur frequently over multiple nights, they may be associated with sleep apnea, according to Apple.

Apple Watch users can view their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app on the iPhone, with disturbances classified as "elevated" or "not elevated."

Apple says the feature was developed using "advanced machine learning" and an "extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests," and then validated in a "clinical study."

Apple Watch Series 10 launches on Friday.