Can the ECG feature in the new Apple Watch save lives? We asked an expert

"An ECG is much more valuable than a simple heart rate monitor," said Dr. Nicholas Tullo, cardiac electrophysiologist, at Digital Trends. "Monitoring heart rate from fitness trackers is not always accurate and tells you nothing about heart rate; to see an image is much more valuable.

Dr. Tullo taught health professionals how to read ECGs for decades and manages the ECG Academy.

"The most important thing to diagnose is a very specific arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation," said Dr. Tullo. "Because it involves a very serious risk of stroke."

Normally, if you opt for an ECG, a nurse or doctor can connect 12 wires to your chest and hook you up on a big machine that would record electrical activity to get a glimpse of what your heart is doing. The standard test is known as the 12-lead ECG and it simultaneously records electrical activity from multiple body locations, giving you 12 different views of the heart. The Apple Watch Series 4 equates to a single-driver ECG.

"The Apple Watch gives you a view; it's just one angle, one view, but it's a useful view, "said Dr. Tullo. "Many of the monitors we order for patients to wear for one or two weeks offer only one view."

Real benefits for people

One of the biggest challenges for cardiologists is that they often hear about heart problems after the fact.

"It's like taking your car to a mechanic and telling him: last week it made a strange noise." "You can only say what the heart does if you record the ECG when you present the symptoms. "

With the built-in ECG feature of the watch you're wearing, you can take an ECG when you have palpitations, then export that data to PDF and share it with your cardiologist.

"Medical tests are often very expensive and generally only take a very short time," said Dr. Tullo. "The new Apple Watch could be so valuable because it involves transporting an ECG machine with you."

Apple has clearly worked on this topic for a while. He conducted a heart study with Stanford Medicine to test the ability of the Apple Watch to identify irregular heart rhythms in the hope of detecting things like atrial fibrillation. Early discovery of these problems could save lives and any knowledge of the heart rate is better than any survey.

"It's probably not a good idea for a hypochondriac, but the potential benefits far outweigh any potential harms," ​​Dr. Tullo said. "Not everyone will use it, but it's good to have it if you have health problems. I will mention it to the patients who come into my office.

Portable ECG devices are not new

There are different monitoring devices on the market that allow you to make your own ECG. Dr. Tullo advised his patients to use a monitor AliveCor. It costs $ 100 and connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The company even offers a $ 100 KardiaBand, which works with the original Apple Watch to add the same ECG functionality.

"It has been a very useful tool for me and my patients," said Dr. Tullo. "Apple saw the value and integrated the watch itself, which, in my opinion, is a very good thing."

We are currently testing the WIWE mobile ECG Here at Digital Trends, a device the size of a credit card that connects to a smartphone app and records an ECG. You place a right and left finger on the sensors, or both thumbs, and the ECG appears on the screen of your smartphone with a clear indication of any deviation from a normal heart rhythm. It costs 289 euros (about 340 dollars), but manufacturers are convinced that it is more reliable and more accurate than the Apple Watch Series 4.

"Although the device is promising and its ECG function has been approved by the FDA, there are concerns about reliability," a spokesman for WIWE said in a statement.

Specifically, they question the signal quality of the electrodes attached to the left wrist and the right finger, suggesting that wrist hair or small finger movements could skew the results. Apple recommends resting your arms on a table or your legs while recording an ECG.

It should also be noted that the FDA has approved the ECG function of Apple Watch, but with reservations. the FDA report states: "The ECG data displayed by the ECG application is intended for informational use only."

The report also suggests that the ECG application is not suitable for people with "other known arrhythmias" or "people under 22 years of age."

According to the designers of WIWE, this may be because sinus respiratory arrhythmias are quite common at a young age and can cause significant fluctuations in heart rate, even if they present no real danger. The WIWE device saves more information and is able to perform a more in-depth evaluation, which is one of the reasons why the UK's National Health Service (NHS) has just come out of it. buy 100 WIWE devices.

Although the Apple Watch Series 4 may not be as accurate as some other ECG devices, it could still prove very useful for reporting potential problems and sparking further investigations. . The Apple Watch Series 4 starts at $ 400, but also offers a lot of other features that ECGs and cardiac monitoring. He can follow the falls and call the emergency services if he does not detect movement after one minute; it can alert you to low heart rates and it features many fitness tracking features, as well as the ability to interact with notifications. Most people would never buy a specific ECG device, but an Apple watch is a completely different perspective.

The Apple Watch Series 4 is available for purchase, but the ECG application and irregular rhythm notifications arrive later this year. The US has given FDA clearance and Apple is working to get it to the rest of the world as soon as possible.