Samsung announced today that the IHRN (Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification) component of the existing ECG (Electrocardiogram) feature on Galaxy Watches received FDA clearance. Galaxy Watch users will soon be able to use the BioActive Sensor on their Wear OS wearables to look for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib).
Samsung says the FDA-cleared IHRN feature will debut on the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatch series as part of One UI 5 Watch. The series is rumored to consist of a standard model and a Classic variant that should have a physical rotating bezel.
The company also says that the FDA-approved IHRN feature will expand to previous Galaxy Watch editions after the Watch 6 series debuts.
FDA-approved feature coming to Galaxy Watch 4 and later models via update
The company mentions that, once activated in the Samsung Health Monitor app, the FDA-cleared IHRN feature checks for irregular heart rhythms in the background using the BioActive Sensor.
Samsung first introduced the 3-in-1 BioActive Sensor with the launch of the Galaxy Watch 4 series, so in other words, the FDA-cleared IHRN feature will come only to the Watch 4 and later models.
This availability detail is also confirmed by the One UI 5 Watch update, which will only come to Wear OS Galaxy smartwatches and not older models powered by Tizen, such as the Galaxy Watch 3.
Samsung may unveil the Galaxy Watch 6 series at an early Unpacked event in late July. The One UI 5 Watch update should be released after. Last week, Samsung officially broke the news on the next smartwatch update and some of the features it will bring. Among other things, One UI 5 Watch will help users sleep better, bring personalized heart rate zones, and improve safety features like Fall Detection and automatic SOS calls.
The tech giant says “this is yet another example of how Samsung prioritizes proactive safety solutions and enables users to receive a more holistic understanding of their cardiovascular and overall health.”
