At this point the Apple Watch is an extremely capable health device for so many. It is also so powerful in that regard, because it is on our wrists on a daily basis. Perhaps obvious, but this gives it unique access to diagnose or even predict certain medical conditions with extremely high accuracy.
We have written many times about the Apple Watch’s health benefits: saving people’s life’s, measuring EKG’s, or detecting various heart problems, these are just some examples.
Now Apple officially launched a heart study with Stanford Medicine, to identify irregular heart rhythms.
“Apple today launched the Apple Heart Study app, a first-of-its-kind research study using Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor to collect data on irregular heart rhythms and notify users who may be experiencing atrial fibrillation (AFib).”
Apple further stated:
“To calculate heart rate and rhythm, Apple Watch’s sensor uses green LED lights flashing hundreds of times per second and light-sensitive photodiodes to detect the amount of blood flowing through the wrist. The sensor’s unique optical design gathers signals from four distinct points on the wrist, and when combined with powerful software algorithms, Apple Watch isolates heart rhythms from other noise. The Apple Heart Study app uses this technology to identify an irregular heart rhythm.”
https://twitter.com/pschiller/status/936266365027213312
The app for this study can be downloaded here.
“As part of the study, if an irregular heart rhythm is identified, participants will receive a notification on their Apple Watch and iPhone, a free consultation with a study doctor and an electrocardiogram (ECG) patch for additional monitoring. The Apple Heart Study app is available in the US App Store to customers who are 22 years or older and have an Apple Watch Series 1 or later.”
We are excited about this development, keep going Apple!