Samsung Health Research Stack is Samsung Electronics’ open-source project that supports digital health researches using mobile and wearable devices in Android and Wear OS environments. The platform provides IT developers and medical researchers with a software environment to conveniently and safely plan services using relevant data.

Because clinical research requires apps and services that continuously measure, share and analyze health-related data from users’ daily lives, Samsung Health Research Stack aims to help researchers implement the features they want.

Following the launch of Samsung Health Stack Alpha in 2022 and Samsung Health Stack 1.0 in 2023, Samsung has announced the latest version with Samsung Health Research Stack 2.0 Beta. The open-source project has rebranded to Samsung Health Research Stack, emphasizing support for the research ecosystem as part of the newly launched Samsung Health SDK Suite — a comprehensive package of software development tools for healthcare solutions.

New Features Help Researchers With Their Studies

Samsung Health Research Stack promotes more efficient digital health research. Features include an app SDK for easy application creation, a back-end service that manages data collected by the app and a web portal to assist with research design and data analysis. In response to feedback from researchers, the latest version includes more convenient features.

The app SDK is a development tool that reduces the cost and time required to develop applications for digital health — and now supports the development of both mobile apps for research and smartwatch apps that utilize wearable sensor data. Notably, enhanced support for the Sensor SDK allows researchers to create watch apps that measure and utilize electrocardiogram, blood oxygen level and body composition data from the innovative Galaxy Watch¹ sensors. The new Data SDK integration helps researchers create applications that use sleep data from the Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring.

Moreover, performance and usability improvements have been made to the back-end service and web portal. The back-end architecture has been reinforced to handle data from large clinical trials with added features to manage studies. The web portal helps with the research process from patient recruitment and surveys to progress management and data analysis.

Driving Results Around the World With Introduction at SDC24

Samsung Health Research Stack is open to any company or medical institution in the digital healthcare space developing solutions that utilize wearable devices and biomarkers.

Samsung Health Research Stack will be showcased at the Samsung Developer Conference 2024 (SDC24) on October 3 in San Jose, California. Developers can join a Code Lab session during the event to experience the latest features firsthand.

“Samsung Health Research Stack is already being used in multiple domestic and international clinical studies that utilize Galaxy Watch,” said Yunsu Lee, Head of the Data Intelligence Team, Samsung Research. “With our innovative wearable technology, we aim to contribute to expanding the digital health ecosystem and serve as a valuable partner to IT and medical professionals in achieving research breakthroughs.”

The latest version of Samsung Health Research Stack is available on the Samsung Developer website and GitHub.

¹ Available on Galaxy Watch 4 or later models equipped with Wear OS. Data supported may vary depending on sensor type and model.

Samsung Electronics today introduced a new Samsung Health Software Development Kit (SDK) Suite. Designed to better support developers and researchers in creating innovative healthcare solutions, the SDK Suite leverages Samsung’s advanced sensor technology and comprehensive Samsung Health platform. The new complete package of sensor, data, accessory and research stack components is now readily accessible to an expanded range of partners, developers and researchers.

Sensor SDK: Fueling Health Services Development Through Advanced Sensor Technology

The Sensor SDK provides developers with Samsung’s powerful BioActive Sensor algorithm on the Galaxy Watch, empowering them to explore new sectors of health services and create advanced new solutions. The BioActive Sensor measures a diverse range of health metrics including heart rate, skin temperature, electrocardiogram (ECG) and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). A notable update features continuous access to Photoplethysmogram (PPG) Infrared (IR) and Red LED sensor data for the first time. This advancement will help enhance health services related to blood oxygen level (SpO2) to improve sleep quality and beyond. The upgraded BIA now provides additional measurements — magnitude and degree — expanding on the existing eight indicators, including skeletal muscle mass and body fat mass, to present more precise body composition analysis to offer deeper insights into overall physical health.

Data SDK: Comprehensive Health Insights Unlock New Value in Health Services

Starting from October, the newly added Data SDK enables developers to utilize integrated health data gathered from diverse devices such as Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Ring, smartphones or even third-party devices to create innovative digital health solutions. Data SDK provides access to health metrics on the Samsung Health app — including sleep, exercise, blood pressure, food intake and blood glucose levels — analyzed by its advanced algorithm. These streamlined insights generated by Samsung Health enable developers to enhance their productivity when developing the healthcare services.

Accessory SDK: Holistic Health Insights From Various Health Devices in One Place

With Accessory SDK, developers can integrate compatible third-party heath devices — such as blood pressure monitors, fitness devices like bike sensors, heart rate monitors and even glucose monitors — through the Samsung Health app. This makes it easy to view health status information in one place without activating separate third-party apps, promoting a seamless and simplified experience and expanding the ecosystem for end-to-end health management.

Research Stack: Empowering Research Institutions to Further Support the Healthcare Industry

Research Stack is an open-source project that aims to expand the digital health research ecosystem. Research Stack creates a flexible and versatile research environment, by providing not only the mobile and wearable app SDK but also web portal and backend services, to support all stages of the research process, from recruitment and surveys to progress tracking and results monitoring. The recently updated Research Stack boasts a comprehensive toolset developed based on valuable feedback from research institutions and their experiences implementing complex, large-scale studies. Additionally, the forthcoming 2.0 version will directly integrate Sensor SDK and Data SDK from the Health SDK Suite. Research Stack has already been used by leading institutions as part of their research and discovery processes, underscoring Samsung’s active support for the healthcare industry, providing researchers with more efficient studies and meaningful results.

To learn more about the new Samsung Health SDK Suite, please visit: https://developer.samsung.com/health.