Samsung has announced that a new feature is coming to the Galaxy Watch Active 2 soon: blood pressure monitoring. The update should be arriving sometime in Q3 2020, with the functionality expected to be extended to “upcoming” Galaxy Watch wearables.
In an official statement, the company shares that the Samsung Health Monitor app has received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in South Korea, with the application classified as a “Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)” now.
The Samsung Health Monitor app has the potential to help millions of people around the world who are affected by high blood pressure. This is one of many examples of how Samsung is integrating its best-in-class hardware with the latest software innovations to innovate mobile experiences.”
– Taejong Jay Yang, Corporate SVP and Head of Health Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics
The way it works is pretty interesting, actually. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 currently only has the ability to measure your heart rate and electrocardiograms (ECG)—Samsung uses a unique method to measure blood pressure here. First, you’ll need to calibrate the sensors while using a blood pressure cuff. Once that’s done, you’ll be able to monitor your blood pressure without the cuff at any time.
This is done via software that “analyses the relationship between calibration value and the blood pressure change to determine the blood pressure”. However, users are advised to recalibrate the Galaxy Watch Active 2 every four weeks to ensure accurate results.
If you want to find out how this method works in medical detail, click here for a detailed report. Basically, the idea behind this blood pressure monitoring technique is to use the correlation between blood volume and pressure to arrive at an estimate of your actual blood pressure, using calibrated software.
At the moment, Samsung says that the Samsung Health Monitor app will be available on the Galaxy Watch Active 2 sometime in Q3 2020, and support will be added for upcoming wearables from the brand.
However, there’s no word on whether the update will be pushed to older Galaxy Watch devices, such as the Galaxy Watch and the Galaxy Watch Active. Theoretically, the watches are equipped with the necessary hardware to handle the new feature—we’ll just have to wait and see.
