Samsung has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature. IHRN complements the ECG measurement and helps track abnormal heart rhythms and report them to the user. The feature will be part of One UI 5 Watch, which just came out in a first beta. The Samsung Galaxy Watch6 series is set to launch with the finished software later this year. According to the latest rumours, it will be sometime in July.
After the release, however, older Samsung Galaxy smartwatches will also benefit from the new firmware. These definitely include the Galaxy Watch5 series and the Galaxy Watch4 series.
IHRN proactively monitors heart rhythms indicative of atrial fibrillation (AFib). Atrial fibrillation is a type of arrhythmia that is considered a warning sign of serious cardiovascular problems. It can increase the risk of stroke, heart failure, and other complications. Some AFib cases are asymptomatic or even silent, meaning you may have it without knowing it.
Once enabled in the Samsung Health Monitor app, the feature periodically checks for irregular heart rhythms in the background. If the heartbeat is irregular in a certain number of consecutive measurements, the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 warns of possible atrial fibrillation and prompts the user to take an ECG for a more precise measurement.
