While people are aware of atrial fibrillation, its first manifestation usually occurs along with stroke. For such patients, it is vital to carry out early detection and regular heart monitoring. The monitoring technology devices available nowadays are either quite challenging to carry or use, limited in duration, invasive or require a trip to the doctor’s office. The invention of smartphone-enabled medical peripherals has made ambulatory detection of AF a lot simpler.
A study published in HeartRhythm says that Atrial fibrillation (AF) can now be effectively and accurately detected in an ambulatory or outpatient setting using a mobile heart monitor, paired with a smart device and an app, and supported by an automated algorithm, and the results interpreted by a physician.
Kardia Mobile Cardiac Monitor – KMCM
The KMCM is an FDA-cleared 30-second ECG or electrocardiogram that can instantly detect either a normal heart rhythm or atrial fibrillation anytime and in any location.
It is a pocket-sized two-electrode cardiac rhythm recorder that connects to a smart device. All that the patient has to do is be comfortably seated, open the Kardiaapp on their phone and press the “record now” button.
Next, they have to place the electrode within 30 cm of the mobile device and lightly place 2 or more fingers of both the hands on the two given pads.
After giving the monitor a few seconds for the rhythm to smooth out, the patient has to keep the arms still for at least 30 seconds to ensure a complete recording. The device then sends the reading wirelessly to the smartphone where the results can be viewed on the application – which is an ECG trace, a measure of the heart rate, and whether it is a “Normal Sinus Rhythm” or a “Possible Atrial Fibrillation,” the most common type of serious arrhythmia.
The recordings can be directly sent to a relevant healthcare professional and/or stored in the cloud server.
The KMCM’s newly automated rhythm analysis uses an algorithm specially developed to detect AF.
