Just over a month after Samsung's Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature received FDA clearance, the company has announced plans to roll it out this summer to the Samsung Health Monitor app as part of One UI 5 Watch. In a press release, Samsung said that the IHRN feature will be widely rolled out in 13 markets, although there's no specific date for the roll-out at the moment.
Alongside the U.S. FDA, the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) also approved the IHRN feature earlier this month, paving the way for it to be introduced in Samsung’s home market. Apart from the U.S. and South Korea, it will also be introduced in a number of other countries, including Argentina, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Panama, and the UAE.
Combined with the Galaxy Watch's ECG feature, IHRN will check for irregular heart rhythms in the background and warn the user of a potentially critical condition known as atrial fibrillation (AFib), which could prove life-threatening if not treated in time. According to the American Heart Association, AFib can lead to blood clots in the heart and increase the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.
The Galaxy Watch includes the Samsung BioActive Sensor, which helps users better understand their heart health, thanks to features like ECG and HR Alert function that can detect abnormally high or low heart rates. The addition of IHRN is expected to add even more resources for Galaxy Watch to ensure the users' cardiac well-being.
Samsung had earlier announced that the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 will be the first to get the new feature, followed by the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5 series. However, like ECG, the availability of IHRN will also vary by market and carrier, so people everywhere may not get access to the new feature.