2023-06-27 09:02:36
Shopping in the supermarket might become a life-saving activity: British scientists have built ECG sensors into the handles of shopping trolleys that can identify cardiac arrhythmias. This means that 39 unknown cases of atrial fibrillation were discovered in a test phase involving 2,155 adults.
The shopping carts give a green signal following 60 seconds if a regular heartbeat is detected. If it is irregular, the lamp lights up red. This was the case for 220 of the 2,155 test subjects. These were then further examined. There was no suspicion of atrial fibrillation in 115 people, an unclear result in 46 people and atrial fibrillation was diagnosed in 59 people. Of these, 20 already knew that they had atrial fibrillation, but 39 people were unaware of their condition.
This is important because atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke fivefold. Treatment with anticoagulants significantly reduces this risk. In many people, however, atrial fibrillation is only discovered following the fact, when they have already had a stroke.
“This study shows the potential to make health checks more widely available without disrupting everyday life,” said Prof Ian Jones of the University of Liverpool, who presented the results at the European Society of Cardiology Congress. “Within two months, we identified 39 patients who were unaware they had atrial fibrillation. That’s 39 people at increased risk of stroke who got an appointment with a cardiologist.”
The research team plans to further optimize the system – for example, design it to better guide the hands, as movements of the hands affected the readings.
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