How would you know if you were having a heart problem? People don’t always recognize the symptoms of an impending heart attack or acute coronary syndrome. Obviously, a symptom like chest pain or pain in the shoulder or jaw might be a tip-off. However, common symptoms like nausea, vomiting, indigestion, fatigue or feeling short of breath could be caused by a lot of other conditions. Could your smartwatch help with the diagnosis?
Using a Smartwatch to Diagnose a Heart Problem:
A brief report in JAMA Cardiology suggests that a smartwatch capable of recording electrocardiograms provides enough information to identify an acute coronary syndrome in its early stages (JAMA Cardiology, Aug. 31, 2020). The researchers recruited 100 participants between April, 2019, and January, 2020. Only 19 of these were healthy individuals. The others were undergoing heart attacks.
These volunteers placed their Apple Series 4 watches on nine different parts of their bodies, as the doctors instructed them. At the same time, the clinicians hooked them up for standard 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs). Comparing the read-outs from the ECG to the multichannel ECG provided by the watch showed extremely good agreement. Specifically, the watch recordings were able to distinguish quite accurately between an ECG with ST segment elevation and one without that particular ECG change. This is important for the doctor trying to diagnose a heart problem.
Don’t Try This at Home:
Clearly, this is not a do-it-yourself project. Just learning where to put the watch to get the multichannel reading can be challenging, and not all the participants did that properly. Moreover, only a health care professional with the appropriate training can interpret an ECG. However, it is heartening that the technology a physician or nurse would need to make the diagnosis is now extremely portable. Not everyone can afford such a smartwatch. On the other hand, perhaps health care systems should consider whether they should provide such devices for vulnerable patients.
