Upcoming Apple Watch band will warn users of an impending stroke

midian182

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One of the reasons that a lot of people buy wearables is for the health monitoring features they offer. Not only can they help users get fitter, they can even save lives – as was the case recently when a Canadian man’s Apple Watch showed he was having a heart attack.

Now, it’s been announced that the health benefits of Apple’s wearable are about to become even greater, as the device will be able to tell the wearer if they are at risk of having a stroke. Thanks to a first of its kind, medical-grade band called Kardia.

Developed by San Francisco-based AliveCor, the Kardia band can detect atrial fibrillation - a leading cause of strokes - and instantly alert the wearer.

Users will be able to take and record an ECG reading by simply pressing a sensor on the Kardia Band Strap, where it is analyzed by the accompanying app to detect any abnormalities. The band can communicate the results directly to a user’s doctor through Kardia’s free Provider Dashboard.

It will also be possible to add voice notes alongside the readings, as a way of alerting doctors that a high reading may have been due to strenuous activity, rather than it indicating something serious.

The Kardia app, available for download now, will link to Apple’s Health app in order to give an overall picture of the user’s health.

"Kardia Band for Apple Watch represents both the future of proactive heart health and the introduction of the wearable med-tech category," said Vic Gundotra, the firm's chief executive. "These combined technologies give us the ability to deliver personal reports that provide analysis, insights and actionable advice for the patient and their doctor."

AliveCor already makes an FDA-approved Kardia ECG monitor that can be used with a smartphone, but this is the company’s first entry into the wearables market.

There’s no word yet on when the band will be released in the US or how much it will cost, but it will be available in Europe in the next two months for around 200 Euros ($221.60).

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Any type of malfunction in this feature can sink Apple in lawsuits, just like doctors are liable for any misdiagnosis.
 
Most aWatch users immediately become stroke susceptible once they realize they've shelled out about $600 for a ridiculous watch and and even more ridiculous watch-band app. The others will amount to a bunch of sweat-stained vanity hypochondriacs with nothing better to do than to sit hunched over there watches and muttering to themselves, "Am I having a stroke yet? Am I having a stroke yet?"
 
The good thing is that Apple will offer a discount coupon for an app store purchase if you have a stroke which wasn't picked up by the band.
 
It won't tell you if you're having a stroke. All it does is monitor your heart rhythm and inform you if you have an irregular heartbeat, of a kind which indicates you might be PRONE to having a stroke. Alivecor has had a device for several years that works this way, you place it on the back of your smartphone (not permanently, unless you want it to be you can use two sided tape) and it will take a reading. This device for the watch simply makes it easier to do. There are lots of people out there who have intermittant episodes of atrial fibrillation (that nasty old irregular heartbeat) but don't even know it. I was, and am, one such person. I will go in and out of this irregular rhythm, often without noticing. This watch device will help people learn if something's wrong before you're aware of it. It's a great new technology that will save people from having strokes. The odds? Well, Atrial fibrillation usually only occurs in older people (50 and up), but is occasionally found in younger (Bill Bradley, NJ US senator had early onset atrial fibrillation). This device would be a good idea for anyone with a family history of heart disease of any kind, or of any irregular heartbeats. It's not really something that everyone can use. BTW, I'm going to buy one.
 
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