Apple watch series highly anticipated heart monitoring feature go live

One of the most anticipated features of Apple Watch Series 4 launched in September this year is the ability of the watch to capture mobile electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) at the touch of the button. The feature was made available to consumers in the US today via a software update.

The new feature is a big step towards company’s venture of linking apple with healthcare. The apple watch ECG is a simple, single-lead ECG, as opposed to the standard 12 lead ECG usually administered in a hospital or clinic settings.

Apple ECG will not document most heart rhythm abnormalities, electrical changes associated with heart attack or heart failure. Apple ECG would detect irregular heartbeats or quivering– atrial fibrillation or a-fib as it is commonly known.

A-fib is a serious condition and according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 6.1 million Americans are living with a-fib. It can cause stroke, blood clots or cardiac failure. It is also difficult to diagnose because the rhythm often becomes regular as the patient reaches the physician’s office for an ECG. 

If you are wearing apple watch, it can immediately register the irregular heartbeat and diagnose atrial fibrillation.

While recording ECG, you must be sitting or standing still and able to hold the hand in place for 30 seconds. ECG cannot be recorded if you are running or doing any stressful physical activity.

As soon as you open the watch, touch the ‘digital crown’ with your free hand to complete the electrical circuit. The heart rhythm strips appear immediately on the screen, and your iPhone alerts you that your ECG is ready to review.

A description of your ECG is also seen on the screen so that people can understand the heart rate and associated abnormalities. The user can directly upload the ECG along with the description provided to his family physician or cardiologist.

FDA clears the new apple ECG feature, but it has not approved it. The FDA also made it clear that the app is only for people 22 years and older.

“We have tens of millions of watches on people’s wrists, and we have hundreds of millions of phones in people’s pockets,” says Apple’s chief operating officer Jeff Williams, who oversees the company’s health projects. “There’s a huge opportunity to empower people with more information about their health. So this is something we view as not only an opportunity but a responsibility of ours.”

Critics fear that the ability of millions of people to get their on-demand ECG at the touch of a button will clog the ER and result in many unnecessary tests.

Apple responds that no medical test is 100% accurate, so some false positives are inevitable. However, much thoughts have gone into making the app user-friendly and not anxiety provoking, and it will prompt the user to act at a crucial time.

Human images from the first full-body scanner unveiled

EXPLORER, the world’s first whole-body PET/CT scanner has produced some amazing human images, opening doors to numerous diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the future. The first human images by the scanner were shown at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting, Nov. 24- Nov. 30 in Chicago.

Simon Cherry and Ramsey Badawi

A brainchild of UC Davis scientists Simon Cherry and Ramsey Badawi, the EXPLORER combines positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) making it possible to image the whole body at the same time. The scanner has been developed in partnership with Shanghai-based United Imaging Healthcare (UIH), which built the system based on its latest technology platform and will eventually manufacture the devices for the broader health care market.

Researchers say that the machine captures radiation far more efficiently than any other scanner, producing images in as little as 1 second and, over time, produce videos that can track the journey of specially tagged drugs through our entire body.

EXPLORER is 40 times faster than current PET scanners and can produce images of whole-body in as little as 20 to 30 seconds. The radiation dose can be further reduced at the expense of a few extra seconds under the scanner or if needed a longer scan at the standard dose will produce optimal image quality.

“The tradeoff between image quality, acquisition time and injected radiation dose will vary for different applications, but in all cases, we can scan better, faster or with less radiation dose, or some combination of these,” Cherry said.

It is for the first time that a scanner can visualize simultaneously that what is happening at the organ as well as tissue level. It will also benefit patients and physician by documenting the spread of cancer, inflammation in body tissues, various infection, immunological and metabolic disorders and much more.

 “I don’t think it will be long before we see at a number of EXPLORER systems around the world,” said Cherry and is very optimistic about the future of the EXPLORER.

The UC Davis team is working closely with UIH to get the first system installed in Sacramento, USA, and the first system is expected to begin imaging patients as early as June 2019.

Here’s a scan of a whole body taken using the EXPLORER

UC Davis press release 
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Pre-treatment with Mifepristone before Mirena insertion helps optimize the bleeding pattern

Pretreatment with low dose Mifepristone significantly improves the bleeding pattern following the insertion of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system with a 52 mg reservoir (LNG-IUS 52 mg, Mirena®) report the results of randomized control trial published in Journal of Human Reproduction.

The LNG-IUS is one of the most cost-effective contraceptive method currently available, but many women discontinue its use because of irregular bleeding/spotting during the initial three months following its placement. It is estimated that about 25–62% of women experience irregular vaginal bleeding during the first 3-6 months causing them to discontinue the contraceptive.

With continued use after 3-6 months, the irregular bleeding and spotting are reduced, and more than half the women experience amenorrhea at the end of 1 year.

The Swedish researchers recruited 68 eligible women attending the Karolinska University Hospital from November 2009-2013 for this prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (European Union Clinical Trials Register–2009-009014-40). Fifty-eight women met the eligibility criteria and were randomized to receive 50 mg mifepristone as single oral dose or placebo for two months before and three days following the insertion of LNG-IUS.

The LNG-IUS insertion was timed at the end of two 28 days menstrual cycle. All women were asked to systemically note the daily bleeding and spotting (B/S) or adverse effects for two months of mifepristone treatment and six months following the insertion of LNG-IUS.

The study participants underwent routine physical and gynecological examination, required laboratory tests including pelvic ultrasound, tests for chlamydia infection, breast biopsy, endometrial biopsy and pap test at baseline and during follow-up.

After statistical analysis, researchers noted significant lower B/S in the mifepristone group (−17.8% points, P < 0.001) in the first month following the LNG-IUS insertion. However, no significant difference was observed in both groups in the subsequent months.

This European study is the first study investigating the effect of prophylactic use of progesterone receptor modulators to reduce the B/S associated with post-LNG-IUS insertion. Other studies have investigated mifepristone for therapeutic purposes.

Based on the study results, researchers are optimistic that other modified treatment protocols of mifepristone with different duration and dose could be explored in further studies. Studies could also be planned with other progesterone receptor modulators to address the issue of B/S immediately after LNG-IUS insertion.

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