Apple Watch Series 4 can now take ECGs

The Apple Watch Series 4 was shipped a few months back and at that time the electrocardiogram feature was under process. But the process has been complete and the US based tech giant has released its Watch OS 5.1.2 update, which has added the much awaited ECG app. As the users have already been getting notifications on irregular heart rhythms, the ECG app will take things further.

The users of the app can take an ECG by just opening the app on the Series 4 and hold the digital crown for 30 seconds. The two given points of contact are equivalent to the single lead ECG. Apple has said that every reading will be classified as either atrial fibrillation, inconclusive or sinus rhythm. The results of the ECG test will be saved in the Health app. They can also be exported to PDFs to share with doctors. At the same time the results from the app must be taken with a mild dose of doubt.

The ECGs which are performed with the doctor generally involves 12 leads while the ones which are done with the Series 4 is only a single lead. At the same time it has to be considered that Apple has got an FDA clearance for the Series 4 and is a de novo classification. This means that it is a novel device and is unlikely to cause harm and is not equivalent to the hospital grade medical device. Despite this, Apple has claimed that it has conducted trial with 600 participants with 98.3 percent sensitivity while classifying AFib and 99.6 percent with sinus rhythms.

To get the new update, the users have to just go to the Apple Watch app on the iPhone and navigate over the General. Once it is there, the users can see a notification on the Software Update Menu. If the update is not seen then it might take some time for the update to reach the users.

Photo Credits: Fossbytes