Apple has released a new version of watchOS with the ECG app. This was reported to “Lente.ru” by a company representative.
The ECG app is available on Apple Watch Series 4 and later. Also, for it to work, you need to update your watch to watchOS 7.1. The function will allow you to independently take an electrocardiogram directly from the wrist, and with a rapid or irregular heartbeat, it records the heart rate.
It is indicated that the function is certified by Roszdravnadzor, and is also not a medical device. Therefore, the data from the ECG app may be inaccurate and cannot be used for medical purposes or for self-diagnosis.
Also, with the update, notifications about irregular heart rhythms have appeared in the system, which will help to identify the symptoms of atrial fibrillation – one of the main abnormalities leading to a heart attack.
How it works
The back of Apple Watch and the Digital Crown contain electrodes that form the first lead. This allows you to identify sinus arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, and low or high heart rate. Before starting diagnostics, you need to activate the ECG on the device, then put your index finger on the Digital Crown. The process will take 30 seconds, after which the user's heart rate data will appear in the application on the iPhone. The same information can be exported to PDF and sent to the doctor. At the same time, the watch itself will send a notification to the user in case of pathology detection.
In Apple Watch Series 3, only irregular rhythm notifications are available from the optical sensor of the watch. The user will be notified if there is one irregular heartbeat per 5 test within 65 minutes of measurements.
The EKG app was launched in 2018 and has already passed the US FDA certification. As part of this test, 600 people tested the technology in five different locations. The data obtained from the watch was compared to a medical electrocardiogram device with 12 electrodes; in the study, false positive and false negative rates were 0.4 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. Separately, the FDA report states that the feature is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 22.
At the same time, the function of notifications about irregular rhythm was studied in the course of the Apple Heart Study, which included 400 thousand participants and became the largest study of the cardiovascular system.
EKG on Apple Watch is already saving lives
In May 2020, it was reported that Apple Watch was able to detect signs of myocardial ischemia in an 80-year-old woman who was admitted to a hospital in Mainz (Germany). The European Heart Journal states that the 12-channel electrocardiograph failed to detect signs of illness.
In July of the same year, an anesthesiologist from California, Donald Milne, said that the gadget helped him detect a hidden heart disease that requires corrective surgery: “Several months ago I was working on an elliptical trainer. During exercise, there was more shortness of breath than usual. I used the ECG function to take the readings during the session. ” With these findings and additional research, doctors discovered critical diffuse coronary artery disease. Milne was prescribed five-vessel bypass surgery and aortic valve replacement. According to him, thanks to the watch, the disease was detected at an early stage and without them he would never have known about heart disease.
