14 DAY TRIAL // AliveCor announced on Monday that its FDA-approved KardiaBand Apple Watch band might be used to accurately detect hyperkalemia, besides its already confirmed EKG (electrocardiography) capabilities.
Two new studies conducted by a Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, U.S. confirm that AliveCor's portable electrocardiogram (ECG) KardiaBand for Apple's Apple Watch smartwatch offers groundbreaking health monitoring capabilities, including the detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib) and hyperkalemia, a.k.a. high potassium levels in the blood.
"As our team continues to push the bounds on innovation in digital health, we are on a path to changing the way AFib and hyperkalemia can be detected, and to defining the ways in which products like Apple Watch can play a role in the future of health care," said Vic Gundotra, CEO of AliveCor in the press release.
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is currently known as the leading cause of heart stroke, and the Cleveland Clinic study, which was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, confirms that AliveCor's KardiaBand for Apple Watch is indeed capable of differentiating between AFib and normal heart rhythm.
The study claims that KardiaBand, which AliveCor first announced last year in November, can correctly detect and interpret Atrial Fibrillation versus normal sinus rhythm with 84 percent specificity and 93 percent sensitivity. Also, the research says that the sensitivity was increased to 99 percent after physician's review of the recordings.
AliveCor's ECG device may also be used to detect hyperkalemia
In addition to confirming the ECG capabilities of AliveCor's KardiaBand for Apple Watch, the Cleveland Clinic reports that the device may also be used for accurately detecting high levels of potassium in the blood, also known as hyperkalemia, when it's paired with newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology on the Apple Watch.
The non-invasive detection of hyperkalemia could save millions of lives as the condition is usually associated with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and congestive heart failure. The study says that hyperkalemia is also associated with arrhythmic risk and significant mortality, and it is usually missed by doctors due to it being asymptomatic.
Cleveland Clinic linked 4 million serum potassium values collected in the past 23 years, between 1994 and 2017, with more than two million ECGs and AliveCor's KardiaBand prospective data to develop the new AI algorithm that may be used to detect hyperkalemia with a sensitivity of up to 94 percent. At the moment, Hyperkalemia can only be detected through a blood test.