Health Canada this week published approval of watchOS 11's sleep apnea detection feature on the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The feature launched in the U.S. and over 150 other countries and regions earlier this month, and Apple is now permitted to make the feature available in Canada.
It is unclear when Apple will expand the feature to Canada.
Sleep apnea is a potentially serious disorder in which a person's breathing repeatedly stops and starts while they sleep. The detection feature uses the Apple Watch's accelerometer to "monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns." If these disturbances occur frequently over multiple nights, they may be associated with sleep apnea, according to Apple.
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. The feature is intended to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea in adults who have not already been diagnosed with the disorder, according to the company.
Apple Watch users can view their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app on the iPhone, with disturbances classified as "elevated" or "not elevated."
