9.4.2021 | 2 MIN
ECG and blood pressure measurements on Samsung watches are entering 31 other countries. And what is so good about this? The Czech Republic is one of those countries. The function was launched during March, taking monitoring our health one step further.
This function has been widely used, for example, in the USA, but for us Europeans it is a new thing. The only remaining step to launch it was receiving the CE certificate, which confirms the safety, health and environmental standard of this product within the European Economic Area.
It is important to note that blood pressure and EKG measurements will only be available on Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. Older devices are not affected by this change.
In addition to the Czech Republic, this feature will also be available in the following countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Croatia, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Chile and the United Arab Emirates.
Of course, you need a newer Galaxy Watch model and a smartphone with Samsung Health Monitor installed. When you update the Galaxy Wearable app, the application will be automatically installed on your phone.
For the first three blood pressure measurements, it is necessary to turn on the measurement on the watch and on a sphygmomanometer at the same time. After each measurement, you enter the values from the blood-pressure monitor into the Samsung Health Monitor app and the watch is calibrated accordingly. Then you only measure with the watch.
The EKG measurement is very similar. Three test measurements are needed and then you need to place your finger on the top button and just wait 30 seconds to get the results.
It is important that for both types of measurements, that the user should be completely calm and not speak.
Electrography is able to distinguish abnormal heart rhythm, ie atrial fibrillation. The measurements do not substitute medical measurements, but repeated warnings are a good impuls to go see a specialist.
As mentioned, to properly measure blood pressure with a watch, you must first calibrate with a sphygmomanometer. The measurement itself then uses a combination of two sensors - heart rate sensor and EKG. Using these two sensors, the watch can determine the time it took for blood to reach from the heart to the wrist. If the blood pressure is higher, the blood gets from the heart to the wrist faster. If it is lower, it gets more slowly from the heart to the wrist.
With a standard EKG, dozens of electrode patches are applied to the patient to sense the electrical activity of the heart. On the watch, this is measured by closing the electrical circuit of the wearer's body.That is why it is needed to place your second finger on the button when measuring the EKG. The beginning of this circuit is a heart rate sensor, which is on the bottom and the circle is closed by a button on the side of the case. The watch is then able to record the electrical activity of the heart.
