Get the latest tech news

How on-the-wrist sleep apnea detection works

80% of sleep apnea cases are undiagnosed, and undiagnosed sleep apnea causes $150B of wasted medical spend every year.

Traditional sleep apnea tests measure five channels: pulse (heart rate), blood oxygen saturation, snoring, nasal flow, and chest motion. Our 2017 study used only heart rate and step count as raw inputs into a deep neural network (an LSTM, at the time). During episodes of apnea (when breathing stops during sleep), the body’s oxygen levels drop, triggering a surge in sympathetic activity to compensate.

Get the Android app