Overview
- Samsung and Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital reported Thursday that a Galaxy Watch 6 predicted vasovagal syncope up to five minutes in advance.
- The findings, published in European Heart Journal Digital Health, are described as the first smartwatch demonstration of syncope prediction.
- The team used the watch’s photoplethysmography sensor to track heart rate variability, then ran the data through an AI model to flag looming events.
- Researchers tested 132 patients during head-up tilt tests, a clinical exam that triggers fainting to identify its cause.
- The system reached 84.6% accuracy with 90% sensitivity and up to 64% specificity, and Samsung says the feature is not on consumer watches yet as it works to expand health tools.