samsung announced that it will add new features to its wearable devices, including the smartwatch "galaxy watch". the company plans to equip these devices with detectors that can detect fatal heart diseases.
systolic dysfunction is a condition in which the ventricles of the heart cannot effectively pump blood, leading to a blockage of blood flow to organs and tissues. this often leads to a fatal condition called heart failure.
samsung announced that it will install an algorithm on its smartwatch to detect early signs of this disease. according to company officials, this development has been approved by the korean food and drug safety agency (mfds). this new feature is based on neural network-based electrocardiogram (ecg) reading technology.
this technology was developed by a south korean startup company, medical ai. the company used ecg data collected in clinical settings to train a dedicated algorithm. the data collected by the smartwatch is analyzed by an app called "aitia lvsd-1l", which is currently available on google play.
it is not yet clear when the galaxy watch will be able to detect symptoms of heart failure.
samsung is partnering with the department of bio-medical engineering at hanyang university in seoul to develop an ear-worn eeg device. this prototype has been proven to be able to detect drowsiness and "likes" of videos by analyzing brain activity during video viewing.
this drowsiness detection feature could be useful during driving, and the ability to identify videos that have been "liked" could be used in targeted advertising. samsung has not yet announced plans to release this device.
