{"id":69842,"date":"2019-07-23T08:32:56","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T00:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/?p=69842"},"modified":"2019-07-23T08:32:57","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T00:32:57","slug":"ecg-feature-apple-watch-approved-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/23\/ecg-feature-apple-watch-approved-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"ECG Feature On Apple Watch Approved for Use in Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Apple Watch users, the ECG feature is finally here. The ECG app and irregular rhythm notification have been approved by the Singapore Health Sciences Authority and will now be available directly to consumers with WatchOS 5.3 via a free update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Irregular heartbeat is something that is hard to detect. With the ECG feature on the Apple Watch, it will be helping you to monitor your heartbeat in the background and send a notification if an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be atrial fibrillation (AFib) is identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More information below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notification available in Singapore today on Apple Watch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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New electrodes in Apple Watch Series 4 now enable customers to take an ECG directly from the wrist.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting today, the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 marks a direct-to-consumer product that enables customers to take an electrocardiogram right from their wrist, capturing heart rhythm in a moment when they experience symptoms like a rapid or skipped heart beat and helping to provide critical data to physicians. The feature is now available in Singapore. The ECG app and irregular rhythm notification have been approved by the Singapore Health Sciences Authority and will now be available directly to consumers. The irregular rhythm notification feature on Apple Watch can now also occasionally check heart rhythms in the background and send a notification if an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be atrial fibrillation (AFib) is identified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Available today as part of a free update to watchOS 5.3, the ECG app1\u00a0<\/sup>and irregular heart rhythm notification feature2\u00a0<\/sup>will help users identify signs of AFib, the most common form of irregular rhythm. When left untreated, AFib is one of the leading conditions that can result in stroke, the second most common cause of death around the world. According to Singapore\u2019s Ministry of Health, AFib, the most common heart rhythm disorder, can affect as many as one in 20 people, and is associated with 15 percent of all strokes in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the ECG App and irregular rhythm notifications on Apple Watch have meaningful impact on our\u00a0customers across the United States, Europe and Hong Kong,\u201d said Jeff Williams, Apple\u2019s chief operating officer.\u00a0\u201cWe are excited to bring these features to customers in Singapore, giving them access to empowering\u00a0information about their heart health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are confident in the ability of these features to help users have more informed conversations with their physicians,\u201d said Sumbul Desai, MD, Apple\u2019s vice president of Health. \u201cWith the ECG app and irregular rhythm notification feature, customers can now better understand aspects of their heart health in a more meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ECG App<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New electrodes built into the back crystal and Digital Crown on Apple Watch Series 4 work together with the ECG\u00a0app to enable customers to take an ECG similar to a single-lead reading. To take an ECG recording at any time\u00a0or following an irregular rhythm notification, users launch the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 and hold their\u00a0finger on the Digital Crown. As the user touches the Digital Crown, the circuit is completed and electrical signals\u00a0across their heart are measured. After 30 seconds, the heart rhythm is classified as either AFib, sinus rhythm or\u00a0inconclusive. All recordings, their associated classifications and any noted symptoms are stored securely in the\u00a0Health app on iPhone. Users can share a PDF of the results with physicians.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irregular Rhythm Notification<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the optical heart sensor in Apple Watch Series 1 or later, the irregular rhythm notification feature will occasionally check the user\u2019s heart rhythm in the background for signs of an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be AFib and alerts the user with a notification if an irregular rhythm is detected on five rhythm checks over a minimum of 65 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving an easily accessible wearable like Apple Watch to detect heart rate, and now heart rhythm with the new ECG app, will go a long way in classifying and eventually managing atrial fibrillation,\u201d said Julian Tan, MD, interventional cardiologist at The Cardiology Practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ECG app\u2019s ability to accurately classify an ECG recording into AFib and sinus rhythm was validated in a clinical trial of around 600 participants. Rhythm classification from a gold standard 12-lead ECG by a cardiologist was compared to the rhythm classification of a simultaneously collected ECG from the ECG app. The study found the ECG app on Apple Watch demonstrated 98.3 percent sensitivity in classifying AFib and 99.6 percent specificity in classifying sinus rhythm in classifiable recordings. In the study, 87.8 percent of recordings could be classified by the ECG app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The irregular rhythm notification feature was recently studied in the Apple Heart Study. With over 400,000\u00a0participants, the Apple Heart Study was the largest screening study on atrial fibrillation ever conducted, also\u00a0making it one of the largest cardiovascular trials to date. A subset of the data from the Apple Heart Study was\u00a0submitted to the FDA to support clearance of the irregular rhythm notification feature. In that sub-study, of the\u00a0participants that received an irregular rhythm notification on their Apple Watch while simultaneously wearing an\u00a0ECG patch, 80 percent showed AFib on the ECG patch and 98 percent showed AFib or other clinically relevant\u00a0arrhythmias.
To enable these new heart features, customers will be taken through an onscreen setup flow that includes details about who can use these features, what the features can and cannot do, what results users may get, how to interpret those results and clear instructions for what to do if users are feeling symptoms that require immediate medical attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 This feature is available on Apple Watch Series 4 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, US and US Virgin Islands, and requires iPhone 5s or later on iOS 12.2. The ECG app does not detect a heart attack, blood clots, a stroke or other heart-related conditions including high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, high cholesterol or other forms of arrhythmia. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2\u00a0This feature is available for Apple Watch Series 1 and later and requires iPhone 5s or later on iOS 12.2 in\u00a0Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland,\u00a0Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden,\u00a0Switzerland, the UK, US and US Virgin Islands. The irregular rhythm notification feature does not detect a heart\u00a0attack, blood clots, a stroke or other heart-related conditions including high blood pressure, congestive heart\u00a0failure, high cholesterol or other forms of arrhythmia.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple Watch users, the ECG feature is finally here. The ECG app and irregular rhythm notification have been approved by the Singapore Health Sciences Authority<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1509,4,61,5,6,14,3,11589],"tags":[17373,2051,43,13405,1658,4357,17374,13367,17372,282,14384],"class_list":["post-69842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-information","category-local","category-mobile","category-pda","category-techie","category-technology","category-wearable","tag-afib","tag-app","tag-apple","tag-apple-watch","tag-ecg","tag-featured-2","tag-heartbeat","tag-heartrate","tag-hsa","tag-singapore","tag-watchos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apple-watch-ecg-app-man-on-apple-watch-072219.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8YKZ-iau","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69846,"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69842\/revisions\/69846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techielobang.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}