Digital tool shows potential for longitudinal tracking of therapy response and patient-provider engagement.

Summary: A wearable ring pulse oximeter and connected software platform demonstrated high patient adherence and potential for longitudinal monitoring of OSA and related conditions in a clinical trial, suggesting it could support shared decision making and expand OSA management beyond sleep specialists.

Key Takeaways:

• A clinical trial presented at ATS 2025 found high patient adherence to Viatom’s ring pulse oximeter for monitoring OSA over multiple nights.
• The device collects continuous oxygenation data and connects to a smartphone app, enabling both patients and providers to access and discuss longitudinal trends.
• Researchers reported that longitudinal data helped assess night-to-night variability and treatment response in OSA patients.
• One patient used the device 44 nights out of a 47-day period, exceeding the study’s requested 9-night wear time.
• The tool may allow pulmonologists to manage routine OSA without specialist referral.
• The software is not yet FDA-cleared for marketing and is currently limited to clinical trials.

A wearable pulse oximeter and connected software platform show promise for longitudinal monitoring of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and other sleep-related breathing diseases, according to clinical trial data presented at the ATS 2025 International Conference.

The ATS abstract, funded by Apnimed Inc, reports that Viatom’s ring pulse oximeter had high rates of utilization by patients. It could be used to track patient response to OSA treatment over time, the investigators say.

“Investigators in our clinical research trials report how useful longitudinal data are to observe night-to-night variability and the response to treatment of OSA,” says Ketan Mehta, MS, head of product and engineering for Connected Wearables at Apnimed, in a release. “One sleep specialist even reported that it may be better to collect one or two channels of data over 25 nights than 25 channels over one night.”

This tool could expand patient access to care through pulmonologists to manage routine sleep apnea in their patients, instead of having to refer them out to a sleep specialist, Mehta adds.

Worn as a ring, Viatom’s O2 Ring uses transmittance-based photoplethysmography and engages in continuous data collection, rather than spot checks.

The device connects to an app that users can access from their smartphone, giving patients access to a subset of the same data as their health care providers.

“These data empower both parties to be informed, and they’re able to have more meaningful conversations. This offers the opportunity for shared decision making between patient and provider using digital medicine,” Mehta says.

The device was used in several different clinical settings, including to monitor patient response to a pharmacologic treatment program for OSA. During the monitoring study, patients were asked to wear the device for 9 nights over a 47-day period. However, many patients voluntarily wore their devices more often, with 85% using them beyond the recommended nights. One patient used the device almost nightly for 44 days, the researchers note.

In addition to clinical use, the pulse oximeter and connected software could be applied to research in conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease, and other conditions that involve sleep-related breathing diseases and require monitoring of oxygenation, Mehta says. 

The connected software has not been submitted to the FDA for marketing approval, so it cannot be deployed outside of clinical trial settings. Researchers hope to continue gathering data to further validate the use of the device and connected software and better understand the patient and clinician experiences, the team says.

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