Global researchers to decode new heart health using Apple Watch, says Apple

Apple has armed global researchers with Apple Watch devices to help explore new frontiers in heart health, the company said on Wednesday

Photo
Photo
IANS San Francisco
3 min read Last Updated : Feb 22 2023 | 1:49 PM IST

Apple has armed global researchers with Apple Watch devices to help explore new frontiers in heart health, the company said on Wednesday.

Using Apple's newly launched Investigator Support Programme, researchers can pioneer understanding of the heart with Apple Watch devices.

Apple Watch is currently known to provide heart health features such as high and low heart notifications, cardio fitness, irregular rhythm notifications, the ECG app, and atrial fibrillation (AFib) history.

With the new programme, Australia-based paediatric oncologists Associate Professor Rachel Conyers and Claudia Toro are looking at how treatment can impact heart rhythm.

"I read about the Apple Heart Study and I thought this could be important for paediatrics," Conyers said in a statement.

"We used to think of cardiac toxicity as something that happened 10 years after treatment. But now we know that new cancer therapies (like specific inhibitors or immune therapy) can cause arrhythmias within 48 hours of medication -- so there's a big gap in terms of what we know about the toxicities at the moment," she added.

Conyers and her team at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne will begin with researching the sensitivity of the Apple Watch ECG app. The study on 40 children and adolescent patients aims to better understand the reality of cardiac toxicity and identify potential opportunities for intervention.

Further, So-Min Cheong from Texas A&M University and Brian Kim and Marco Perez at Stanford Medicine in the US plan to use Apple Watch to study the impact of wildfire smoke on heart health.

Using Apple Watch, the team plans to monitor heart rate and rhythm, sleep, blood oxygen, activity data, and more in up to 200 firefighters.

"Firefighters are bound to benefit from the study," said Cheong. "We know wildfire smoke directly affects their health and with a study like this, they'll be able to see their results in real time."

Similarly, researchers at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers in Europe also aim to use Apple Watch to detect AFib earlier.

The randomised controlled study will enrol more than 300 patients over the age of 65 who meet a risk threshold for AFib.

AFib is a common heart arrhythmia that can have serious impacts -- such as a higher risk of stroke or heart failure -- if left untreated.

"Apple Watch is such a widely used, reliable consumer wearable that we thought it would be a great device for us to integrate into our research to better understand how we could potentially integrate it into the larger health system," said Sebastiaan Blok, director of eHealth at the Cardiology Centers of the Netherlands.

--IANS

rvt/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Quarterly Starter

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

Save 46%

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online

  • Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

Topics :Global economyApple WatchResearch

First Published: Feb 22 2023 | 1:49 PM IST

Next Story