Portable EKGs and Apple Watches

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johno1234

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#317548 25-Oct-2024 09:22

According to the cardiologist I may or may not have occasional atrial fibrillation. He said it would be useful to have access to a portable EKG in case I felt some symptoms so I could get a reading at the time. One option is a $200 kardiamobile device and another is a smartwatch that has an EKG app such as an Apple watch.

I don't normally wear a watch other than a golf gps watch when golfing so the extra spend over the kardiamobile isn't great value, but on the other hand, if I'm out somewhere and I feel symptoms, the kardiamobile is no use sitting at home and I could live with leaving a watch on for a month or two.

Anyone have any experience of these? My cardiologist says both devices are reasonably accurate and medically worthwhile.

The other question is: are Apple watches a risky 2nd hand purchase? In terms of battery health, IMEI lockout etc? Any models to avoid?

TIA

JohnO

MyFriendAutism

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#3301329 25-Oct-2024 09:37

2nd hand Apple Watch 7, 82% battery health & I easily get a full 24hrs use.

As far as the EKG app goes it's pretty handy, it's a quick 30sec test that shows a visual graph of your heart beat & auto sends the result to your iPhone. You can then export as a PDF & send to you Dr if needed. Used in combo with the heart rate monitor app(auto runs every few mins) you get a good picture of your heart health.

johno1234

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#3301339 25-Oct-2024 10:03

Thanks very helpful and using Apple's model comparison tool I can see it has all the same health sensors as new models apart from wrist temperature and ovulation tracking LOL.

Dick Smith have refurb 45mm cellular for $500 will look around and confirm if I can do any better...

alasta

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#3301360 25-Oct-2024 10:53

As a fitness enthusiast my watches get hammered with wind, rain, sweat, salt water and pool chemicals. My experience with the Apple Watch is that it is extremely robust, but the battery health tends to deteriorate quite quickly for me because the poor battery life results in a lot of charge cycles over a given period of time.

So, as a second hand proposition you'd be okay as long as the battery health is reasonable and there is no impact damage.

You might want to consider a proper refurb from Apple. You can go to their website, select 'store' and then 'certified refurbished'. There are a couple of ECG capable options around the $500 to $600 mark.

scuwp

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#3301373 25-Oct-2024 11:53

I assume as you mention Apple that you are in the Apple ecosystem.

If not, the Galaxy watch has similar functions. You can pick up the latest model for around $400, the previous model a bit cheaper.

I am in the exact same boat and my Dr also recommended the Kardiamobile - but carrying an extra device around just in case seems a pain. My reading (supported by Dr) are that the smart watches actually do a pretty good job. The watch is essentially a single-lead ECG.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

fe31nz

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#3301591 25-Oct-2024 22:12

I got the cheapest Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 for this, and my cardiologist was very happy to diagnose from the single lead ECG data it collected. It seems I have benign ectopic beats, nothing to worry about.

GSManiac

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#3302526 28-Oct-2024 17:02

There’s a guy in the buy / sale forum here selling an unopened series 9 Apple refurb for $500. Could be worth looking into

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johno1234

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#3303583 31-Oct-2024 09:47

It's astonishing the Apple Watch price uplift to go from 45mm aluminum to 45mm stainless. Material cost difference is negligible. Machining cost would be higher with stainless but at scale it would not be anywhere near the hundreds of dollars price difference.

CamH

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#3303657 31-Oct-2024 10:54

I haven't tried an Apple Watch, but I've tried numerous Android based ones (Samsung, Pixel) and neither of them have EKG functions that compare to the 6-lead Kardiamobile.

If you want a proper output, I'd absolutely suggest Kardia over a standard single lead watch.

johno1234

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#3303679 31-Oct-2024 11:52

CamH:

I haven't tried an Apple Watch, but I've tried numerous Android based ones (Samsung, Pixel) and neither of them have EKG functions that compare to the 6-lead Kardiamobile.

If you want a proper output, I'd absolutely suggest Kardia over a standard single lead watch.

My advice is from cardiologist Prof Ralph Stewart: that Apple Watch ECG is perfectly acceptable for the purpose of identifying arrythmias such as AFib. His recommendation was the single lead KardiaMobile purely because it was less expensive.

Wearables have an advantage is that they are always there and can monitor continuously. For the KardiaMobile you have to decide to take a test but you may not even have noticed you are in AFib so miss it.

JuiceNZ

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#3303758 31-Oct-2024 13:35

My AFib was initially caught by my Xiaomi S1 Active watch, woke me up in the middle of the night due to 140+ bpm. Dr confirmed with an ECG later that day and they slowed it down with drugs in hospital that night.

After 2 more AFib episodes in 3 months I looked for an ECG watch and decided on a FitBit Sense 2 due to 5 day battery life. It worked well but made me a little paranoid, I was running an ECG every time I felt a bit funny. Sometimes it showed an odd skipped beat and I'd run another one and it would show normal sinus rhythm. After 9 months with no AFib I gave it to my sister and went back to the S1 Active.

I've had one more episode since but the 140 bpm makes it pretty obvious for me and 2 fingers on the carotid confirms.

johno1234

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#3309641 16-Nov-2024 13:28

Didn't find a good deal on an Apple Watch so ordered a KardiaMobile 6L six lead ECG from Amazon. Only $214 and arrived in days. Produced a 6L ECG in 30 seconds and it's algorithm says normal sinus rhythm, even when I could feel some mild palpitations. What a clever device.

While binging on health monitor gadgets I also ordered an Omron automatic blood pressure monitor. That's not so good as it is indicating hypertension.I'm not overweight and don't drink much CH₃CH₂OH so that's annoying.

If it keeps reading high next day or two I'll be back to the Dr again. 🙁

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MadEngineer

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#3309773 16-Nov-2024 20:12

I’ve used both devices but prefer the Apple Watch.

The KM unit I had needed to be pressed to your knee which you’re not going to do when out in public.

Also you soon get over the weird feelings from your heart and finding that devices are showing nothing is wrong.

You need to get a holter from your local hospital which you wear for a week. Every time you feel something weird you push a button and note what it was you felt. After another summons to the hospital you get a summary of what was going on. From memory it was a ~24 month process to get that.

That was fun - using sandpaper on your skin prior to applying the lead patches and trying not to keep putting them onto the exact same spots to save the skin going raw

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

MadEngineer

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#3309775 16-Nov-2024 20:19

For afib print out the ECG and get a piece of note paper. Place the notepaper on the ECG trace and mark off three consecutive pulses with a pen. Slide the notepaper along the ECG and compare the three dots with the other pulses.

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kiwigander

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#3309829 17-Nov-2024 10:44

SWMBO's atrial fibrillation was diagnosed with the help of a Withings ScanWatch. The medical consultants seemed impressed by the quality of its single-lead ECG. Withings got their devices certified by various countries' health device regulators; whether other smartwatch manufacturers have since done so, I am not aware.

The ScanWatch only requires charging every 4 weeks.

Downside: You get a 2-year warranty on a ScanWatch; if it develops a fault after that, you're SOL.

MadEngineer

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#3309834 17-Nov-2024 11:39

^ Checked, and yeah that's got FDA approval too like the Apple Watch & KardiaMobile do. You'd have to decide between the longer battery life or added benefits of having an Apple watch paired with your iPhone.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.