Before launching a new health feature on one of its products, Apple must first obtain approval from the relevant regulatory authorities. In the case of sleep apnea detection on the Apple Watch Series 9, 10 and Ultra 2, the company has had the agreement in the United States, France and 148 other countries. Today, Canada is added to this list, proof that the functionality is serious!
Sleep apnea detection validated in Canada
After approval in France a few days before the launch of watchOS 11 and the new Apple Watch, it is now Canada’s turn to validate the sleep apnea detection offered by Apple. Health Canada has officially given the green light to make this functionality available to Canadian users. For the moment, the launch date in Canada remains unknown, but it is however likely that this new feature will arrive with a future update, possibly watchOS 11.0.1.
How does Apple detect sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea, an often underdiagnosed disorder, is characterized by repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. Apple designed an innovative feature based on the Apple Watch’s accelerometer that can detect subtle wrist movements associated with nighttime breathing interruptions. Using machine learning algorithms and clinical studies validating its effectiveness, this technology is able to identify signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea in adults who are not yet diagnosed.
Users will be able to track their nighttime breathing disturbances directly through the Health app on their iPhone, with disturbances clearly categorized as “elevated” or “not elevated”.
While France has moved ahead of Canada in this authorization, all that remains is to wait for the next update so that Canadian users can also benefit from this new health functionality.
