Since the launch of Apple Watch in April 2015, and the launch of ResearchKit and CareKit tool resources, allowing researchers, clinicians and developers to use Apple Watch to obtain data, conduct research, track and find ways to treat various diseases, and following application services, Apple further announcementResearcher Support Program (Investigator Support Program), which provides Apple Watch devices to researchers to help advance new research, including cardiac science.
Associate Professor Rachel Conyers and Dr. Claudia Toro are senior pediatric oncologists from Melbourne, Australia. They mainly care for children in tertiary pediatric oncology clinics and conduct research related to childhood cancer treatment at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia. Toxicity studies.
Associate Professor Rachel Conyers and Dr Claudia Toro will study 40 children using Apple Watch electrocardiogram data following studies have found that toxicity during cancer treatment can lead to various heart rhythm irregularities, such as long QT syndrome, which causes arrhythmias and can be life-threatening Rhythm changes in young and adolescent patients to understand the actual status of cardiotoxicity and identify potential interventions.
In addition, Dr. Cheong from Texas A&M University, and Dr. Brian Kim and Dr. Marco Perez from Stanford Medical School will equip firefighters with Apple Watches to study the impact of wildfire smoke on heart health, and will conduct research from as many as 50 people in California and Texas. 200 firefighters participated in the study.
The study plans to use Apple Watch to monitor data such as heart rate and heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen, and activity data, together with air quality monitors worn by firefighters, to investigate symptoms derived from sleep, activity, and wildfire smoke conditions.
As for the Amsterdam University Medical Center, Sebastiaan Blok, MD, Director of Smart Healthcare (eHealth) at the Netherlands Center for Cardiology, and colleagues are exploring methods for early detection of atrial fibrillation, including a randomized controlled study leading to a first-of-its-kind reportable trial called HartWacht. Smart healthcare (eHealth) concept.
About 300,000 people in the Netherlands have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, but an estimated 100,000 others may not know they have the condition because they don’t have symptoms, said study team member Nicole van Steijn, MD. “
The study plans to recruit more than 300 patients over the age of 65 who meet the risk threshold for atrial fibrillation. Half of the participants (intervention group) wear the Apple Watch for at least 12 hours a day, and compare the measured data.
“The Apple Watch is a widely used and reliable consumer wearable device, and we thought it was a perfect fit for our research to learn more regarding how we can integrate it into the larger in the health system.”
In the research design of the group, it is expected that participants will have an electrocardiogram every three weeks or when they start to have symptoms. If the participant receives an irregular heartbeat notification, the researchers will contact the participant, guide them to perform the electrocardiogram, and share the results. It is expected that one participant with atrial fibrillation, but without any symptoms, will be identified in the intervention group during the three weeks of the study.
And this study is just the beginning. In the future, researchers will plan to use the Apple Watch ECG app to allow users to monitor heart changes at home at any time and confirm whether certain drugs are causing arrhythmias.
At present, the Apple Watch ECG app has been approved for adult patients, and the pediatric use is limited to the scope of research.
