Samay vs VUNO (2026)
Two very different bets on where clinical signal comes from. Samay builds a chest worn device that projects low frequency sound into the lungs and reads what returns, creating a respiratory measurement that currently requires a pulmonary function laboratory, and it is still at development stage with no clearance evidenced. VUNO predicts in hospital cardiac arrest from four vital signs the ward already charts, with independent multicentre validation behind it and nothing new to buy. For a hospital today, VUNO is deployable and Samay is a technology to watch. The question Samay must eventually answer is whether its acoustic signal quality varies with body habitus, which is the same class of problem as pigmentation in optical measurement and equally unpublished.
- The sensing method is genuinely novel, projecting low frequency sound into the lungs and analysing the returning signal, so it creates a measurement that does not otherwise exist outside a pulmonary function laboratory.
- Evidence is stronger than most companies at this stage and appropriately caveated, including a study with a defined patient population.
- Scope is narrow and clearly stated, respiratory disease specifically, rather than a general monitoring claim.
- It predicts in hospital cardiac arrest within a day from four vital signs the ward already charts, so nothing new has to be bought or worn.
- Independent multicentre validation across several tertiary hospitals addresses site level generalisability better than most deterioration models here.
- Inputs and outputs are stated precisely, four named vital signs producing a bounded score over a defined horizon.
This comparison is published by AI Health Index, an independent research platform that compares healthcare AI vendors objectively. Samay and VUNO are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials and the regulatory record, under the AI Health Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Fact | Samay | VUNO |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Remote Monitoring & Chronic Care | Clinical Decision Support |
| Founded | 2018 | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California, United States | Seoul, South Korea |
| Website | samayhealth.com | vuno.co |
Side by Side
Each record in one paragraph
Written to be quoted whole. Each paragraph states what the AI Health Index verified about the vendor, with the caveats attached. Generated from this pair’s live capability grades, so it moves when a grade moves.
The AI Health Index awards Samay its top capability grade on AI Centrality. Set against VUNO, Samay grades higher on HIPAA and BAA Posture. Its thinnest published disclosure sits on Model Supply Chain Disclosure. Grades reflect evidence the AI Health Index could verify at the last review, so a low grade records disclosure the vendor has not published rather than a capability it has been shown to lack.
Source: AI Health Index, August 2026
The AI Health Index awards VUNO its top capability grade on AI Centrality and Clinical and Operational Evidence. Set against Samay, VUNO grades higher on several axes, including Autonomy and Oversight Model, Model and Technology Transparency and Clinical and Operational Evidence. Its thinnest published disclosure sits on Model Supply Chain Disclosure. Grades reflect evidence the AI Health Index could verify at the last review, so a low grade records disclosure the vendor has not published rather than a capability it has been shown to lack.
Source: AI Health Index, August 2026
Questions buyers ask
Should we choose Samay or VUNO?
On the axes where the AI Health Index separates them, Samay grades higher on HIPAA and BAA Posture, and VUNO grades higher on several axes, including Autonomy and Oversight Model, Model and Technology Transparency and Clinical and Operational Evidence. VUNO leads on the greater share of scored axes, but the split means the decision turns on which constraint is binding rather than on an overall winner.
Where do Samay and VUNO differ most?
The widest separation the AI Health Index records between Samay and VUNO is on HIPAA and BAA Posture, where Samay grades B and VUNO grades C. That axis sits in the Regulatory and Compliance group, so it should carry the most weight for a buyer whose binding constraint is where regulatory exposure sits and who carries it.
Where do Samay and VUNO grade the same?
The AI Health Index grades Samay and VUNO the same on several axes, including AI Centrality, Model Supply Chain Disclosure and AI Safety and PHI Stewardship. Neither holds an advantage the index can evidence on those axes, so they should not carry weight in a selection between these two.
What have Samay and VUNO not disclosed?
At the last review, at least one of Samay and VUNO published thin or absent detail on Model Supply Chain Disclosure. The AI Health Index treats an absent disclosure as a gap in the public record rather than a failure of the product, so these are the axes to get in writing during diligence instead of inferring from the grade.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Remote Monitoring & Chronic Care page.
These sit at different stages and that should not be blurred: one is a development stage device described in prototype terms with no clearance evidenced, the other is a deployed model with published multicentre validation. The device raises a specific unanswered question about whether signal quality and model accuracy vary with body habitus, which is the acoustic equivalent of the pigmentation problem, and no subgroup data is published. VUNO's validation is Korean, so a United States buyer should ask what performance looks like in a population with different baseline vital sign distributions and escalation practices.