Apple Watch series 4 now enables ECG!

[IcEWoLF]

watchOS 5.1.2 was released yesterday.

What’s new in watchOS 5.1.2 [Video]

Tried it and it’s fantastic!

 

[TheForce]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm updating everything now.

 

[TheForce]

Works well when your skin is dry, but if you are sweating the reading is just noise. Therefore it doesn't work during heavy cardio or work load. Even slight moisture in the sweat glands tends to noise up the ECG blips. It takes me almost an hour after exercise before the ECG app will work. The medical ECG with the conductive grease can work during stress test workouts.

I showed it to my cardiologist and the technicians and doctor was impressed. The reading expanded in the Health app matched exactly lead 1 of the doctor's ECG. I then got a short lesson in how to read the different blips and when each means.

 

[Foxbat]

I've been seeing a lot of FUD about this in the Tech Press, worries that users will use the Apple Watch 4 instead of calling 911 when they think they're having a heart attack. They say the "Apple Watch saved my life" stories will make people believe the Apple Watch 4 is equivalent to a full-blown EKG when it's not. Apple does have a lot of warnings to dissuade users from coming tot hat conclusion, but we all know that Ts & Cs are for pressing "Next" - "Next" - Next"...

I'm sure we're getting closer to Arthur C. Clarke's CORA (from "Rendezvous with Rama") which monitors the heart's electrical activity and can contact your cardiologist when it detects a serious cardiac event, as well as make suggestions to "take it easy for a few minutes" during moments of lessor stress.

 

[TheForce]

I'm sure we're getting closer to Arthur C. Clarke's CORA (from "Rendezvous with Rama") which monitors the heart's electrical activity and can contact your cardiologist when it detects a serious cardiac event, as well as make suggestions to "take it easy for a few minutes" during moments of lessor stress.

Got news for you... I already have this. My Pace Maker ICD already does this through a dedicated cellular connection. Medtronic has a sending unit that connects with encrypted NFC ( 12 to 20 ft range) to your implanted device and sends data to Medtronic. To program the sending unit to the pacemaker the NFC is a couple of inches, that initializes and pairs the sender to your device. Medtronic analyzes it and if necessary contacts your doctor and issues an alert on the sending unit. The cost for this is embedded into the device cost, I see no additional charges. Of course, if I travel and leave the sending unit at home it does no good. Absent an event, the sending unit sends the data from the implanted PM to Medtronic each night between 2AM and 5 AM. The system does not allow reprogramming of the implanted PM. That must be done by your doctor with his equipment and access UID and PW.

Unlike, the Medtronic system, Apple's ECG does not send data automatically outbound. There is a way to enter the contact info and you can manually send the ECG data to your Cardiologist for review.