AliveCor iPhone4 ECG

Has anyone heard of this? You can place it on your chest (not for pacemaker/icd patients since it's used by your cell phone) or use your fingertips to get a current ECG/HR readout and it can email or send it to your dr or anywhere else you choose.  

Google iPhonECG turns your iPhone 4 into an affordable cardiac event monitor or Dr. David Albert for more info.

Here's a demo of it  www.AliveCor.com  click features and you can see video demonstrations.  This was developed by  Dr David Albert and is pending FDA approval and is supposed to revolutionize the way holter monitoring is done.

comments, thoughts? I know I got really excited when I read some of the stories, but I'm sure it's not as cut & dried as it reads.

[cindy707]

I think it sounds okay however i would be a little concerned about interference is certain areas with sketchy coverage on the cell phone...i personally liked the one my heart surgeon gave me which was amazingly accurate...it looks like a credit card, you keep it in your wallet..when you feel something is "off" with your heart you press the credit card to your chest and press a flat button like thing on the back of it for one or two minutes and then call the phone number the doc gives you which goes to a central command center where the people reading it over the phone makes the determination if the doc needs to be called and still sends the results to the docs computer where he/she can access the results immediately and the doc contacts you if they see anything off and instructs you on what to do.  The thing works off of sound waves and is converted to a visual and the techs are super experienced.  I know when i had my issues it worked like a charm and was super accurate and easy to use,  The way you send it is pressing the credit card to the mouthpiece of the phone until you hear the final beep...it was pretty cool

[rilesnic]

I had not heard of this, but last week I heard of cars being built that could monitor someone's heart from the driver's seat. A doctor had commented saying that if someone needs to be monitored that much, they shouldn't be driving. I think he missed the point...smart phones, smart cars, all devices that could really catch something for people like us who suffer from crazy, erratic heart beats.

[Mom2four85]

cindy707 is that available to all dr's? none of my dr's ever told me anything about it and I remember you saying something about it before but forgot about it until now, I wonder how much that cost and how readily available they are?  Any idea what it's called I want to ask my dr Friday.

Supposedly the Iphone app has the same ability that a 3 lead ECG does. I found that part of it not so believeable and worry that some may not catch something dangerous like with me but if they can work out the kinks and do enough studies, I can see this potentially saving someone's life.  do you have to have a 12 lead or will a 3 lead ECG do? the dr said this is as accurate as a 3 lead ECG; is that enough?

For example a patient my like father in law, 30 min from the hospital started having chest pains but he didn't get to the hospital right away, he was going to keep working until someone made him go.  By the time he got to the hospital the ECG showed nothing; he walked out of the ER and collapsed in the doorway and had a massive heart attack.  Had someone had this app/device on their phone they may have been able to record his episode and given it to the ER, instead hours went by.

But there are so many questions about reliability I have and wonder if it's something that's going to be a fad and be for monetary gain...I hope not, can you imagine the implications of a device like this in our environment?  Will it help or hurt us? maybe it will ease some of our minds because we can see normal heart rhythms or I may use 500 times a day to make sure my heart is ok and not out of sync; so maybe it will just make me watch my heart more.

Rilesnic; I haven't heard of the car device but I know many have heart attacks while driving if that's going to be done, that may be a life saver - didn't "Macho Man" randy savage just die from a heart attack driving? I think that's what I read.

[rilesnic]

A 50 year-old coach from my hometown died about a month ago from a massive heart attack while driving on I-45 from Dallas. Anyone who knows that road knows there is absolutely nothing but road...you hardly pass through a town. He just veered off....never a symptom of any kind before this. A smart car or even a smart phone very well could've saved his life. No one will ever know if he had pains or palpitations that he could've recorded and gotten help for. In my opinion, these devices certainly can't hurt anyone Even if they're not that accurate, if they saved just one life, it would be worth it....could be mine or someone I love :)

[cindy707]

Rilesnic..geez that is crazy if you think about it...a car that can read your heart rate...not a good idea i don't think and heck its gotta be a ferrari or benz LOL....mom2four.....there's all kind of info on the web if you look it up...and no its not that expensive and yes it is readily available to all doctors....its been around since i had my ablation at least and that was about five years ago now....thank God i only got one call  back from my heart surgeon who told me to head to the E,R, right then to be converted...i hate it when that happens LOL....i think you have to rent or lease them and the doc has to give it to you...its nothing you can do independently.  Also remember when someone has a heart attack there is only a six minute window of opportunity once the heart stops beating Rilesnic....the only thing he could have done was called 911 from I 45 and they would have sent an airship to where he was sitting and even then they wouldn't have made it in that six minutes...i am always so sorry to hear stories like this.....are they preventable?  Sometimes yes sometimes no...

[Mom2four85]

Cindy I understand what you're saying, I'm interested because this crap piece of an ICD I have doesn't seem to work like they say it does...mixed signals, EMI that isn't really there and no answers from doctors leaves me frustrated and if my dr writes me a script for one my insurance pays for it...

with malignant arrhythmia's I'm always looking for new things and thought this may be a great thing to have along with my logs and journals.  Boston Sci is stumped by the EMI my ICD is picking up and I know I keep well enough logs down to seconds which coincides with the ICD reports.

I don't buy EMI laying in bed sick all day not getting up but once to go to the bathroom and they have no answers for me; so if this device does work I would have an instant ECG to show them and prove my ICD needs something done - doctors disagree with each other - one says yes, one says no then the next one says what did the other doctors say? lol

hopefully this app & device works, maybe it will lead to less unnecessary EP studies or ablations trying to find what's going on or not going on...for $100 I'm willing to be a guinea pig and try it out =)

[curmudgen]

Here is a nifty device that amazon is selling - hand held ECG - will this work for you?http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Monitor-Handheld-ReadMyHeart-Version/dp/B0010AN63W

[Mom2four85]

thanks for the info I haven't seen that one, the others I've looked at have been $$$ so I just dismissed them no way I can afford that on top of all other medical costs I have.

how do you tell which ones are more reliable? I will bug my dr's to death with reports until they fix things :P

[itdood]

I think that's a great idea and concept.  Wish I thought of it :-)

[curmudgen]

There are many of these devices available- surf the internet for them and their reviews....