Heart-Checking App May Help Prevent Strokes

The most common type of arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation is an irregular beating of the heart that can lead to stroke, blood clots, or heart failure if left unchecked. And unless an electrocardiogram is being used, it can be difficult to detect.

Soon, however, an app may be all that's required to do the job. Image credit: tasnimnews.com (CC BY 4.0)

In a 2011 study, scientists from Finland's University of Turku collaborated with colleagues at Turku University Hospital, to see if small accelerometers could be used to detect the telltale tiny chest movements associated with atrial fibrillation. It turned out that they could, which caused the team to wonder if the accelerometers in standard smartphones would also work.

To that end, a team led by researcher Tero Koivisto recently created an app that requires the phone to simply be placed upon the patient's chest, where it detects and analyzes micromovements caused by their heartbeat. In a blind study conducted on 300 patients from the hospital, half of whom had atrial fibrillation, the app was 96 percent accurate at detecting the condition – it was able to do so even though many of the patients also had other heart problems.

The app is now being further developed for commercialization, by spinoff company Precordior Ltd. It could ultimately be used by patients checking their own health, by doctors in their offices, or by medical staff in hospitals located in developing nations.

Scientists from The Chinese University of Hong Kong have also developed an atrial fibrillation-detection app, although it utilizes the phone's camera to analyze subtle changes in patients' facial skin color, which are an indicator of fluctuations in their heart rate. (Tasnim News Agency)

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Bacteria living near coral reefs change in synchrony across distances

Bacteria in waters above dozens of coral reefs change dramatically during the night, scientists have discovered, then return to the same daytime community they lived in the morning before.

IUPAC proposes four new chemical element names

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced the proposed names of four chemical elements recently discovered by scientists around the world.

Closest Temperate World Orbiting Quiet Star Discovered

A temperate Earth-sized planet has been discovered only 11 light-years from the Solar System by a team using ESO’s unique planet-hunting HARPS instrument. The new world has the designation Ross 128 b and is now the second-closest temperate planet to be detected after Proxima b.

Reaching for objects while driving may raise teen crash risk nearly sevenfold

Teenagers who reach for objects, such as food or makeup, while driving increase their risk of crashing nearly seven times.

Cave stalagmites reveal India’s rainfall secrets

Stalagmites in a remote cave in northeast India hold climate secrets that can help predict rainfall patterns, floods and droughts in the sub-continent.

Study finds no chronic wasting disease transmissibility in macaques

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) did not cross the species barrier to infect cynomolgus macaque monkeys during a lengthy investigation by National Institutes of Health scientists exploring risks to humans.