Good afternoon, all! As I deal with my AFib one thing that has helped me with the anxiety is a device my cardiologist recommended to me. It is the Alivecor Kardia mobile EKG device. Mine is available on Amazon for $99. There is a new watch version that sells for $199. Through your cell phone it will record a 30 second EKG that you can view, email to a doctor or send to a Kardia EKG specialist.
I just Place it on my chest when I have a disturbance and 30 seconds later I know if I’m in AFib. It will read out, “normal”, “possibly AFib “ or “uncatagorized”.
The device was recently approved here in the states as a diagnostic tool. I use it everyday as a way to monitor my general rhythm or if I feel an episode coming on.
Not sure if it’s compatible with mobile phones in the UK but may well be worth looking at for your peace of mind.
-SG
Written by
scienceguy02
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I am not a fan of wrist-based monitors. Too inaccurate. You can move your arms and set the monitor off. I had a Fitbit and I now have a Samsung. Both are nearly useless as heart monitors. I invested in a chest strap called the Wahoo Tickr that reads on my phone, which is much more accurate.
The device I have has an available mobile phone case that the sensor lays in with the phone. Once you initiate the test you merely hold the sensor/ phone against your skin and it records.
I have a chest strap - intermittent but don’t wear watches so wrist sensors are out.
I have read that the sensors in your phone that measure the blood pulses in your finger are much accurate than the wrist-based monitors. I have one built into my Samsung Galaxy that is pretty good.
I downloaded a pulse app that works off the camera and flashlight. Works great for letting me know my pulse but I need to let my doctor know if if in AFib or A-flutter. I guess they each originate in separate parts of the heart. The ekg from my device lets him more accurately track each episode.
In my opinion, the 'pulse monitors' that use either the phone camera, or a separate light source and receptor (such as on a Fitbit or similar) all suffer the same limitation. They show the pulse of blood pressure generated by a normal or near normal heart beat, but not the extra 'empty' or very weak beats that occur in between while you are in AF. This means that they under-read the heart rate by at about 50%. Of course, since the circulation has dropped, and you are feeling unwell and very anxious anyway, the heart rate is severely raised. My Kardia can read 158 bpm in AF while the Fitbit shows only 78, and that's while resting and not too worried about it! My first attack was recorded by the paramedics in the region of 240 bpm - I thought I was dying of a heart attack and was terrified.
Kardia was well researched and is not anything like the Fitbit. It’s a fantastic aid as I can take an ECG (not HR monitor at all) and email it directly to my EP who can then advise or reassure, I still use my original iPhone 4 hard case from 2013 with my new phone and iPad. Wouldn’t be without it,
I don't see any mention of loop recorder. I had one inserted in my chest . Its a minor procedure done under localized anesthetic. Takes maybe 15 minutes to insert! It works by blue tooth I believe! It records all activity and sends a report to your Dr.If you feel anything out of the ordinary you can use a keyfab . You would press a button and when it beeps you place it over loop strip on your chest. This will show your Dr Your heart activity at that time. My insurance fortunately covers all expenses for it from insertion to monitoring!! Its good for 3 yrs. Just sharing this info!
I am in the United States!!It is a ekg recording from what I understand. When I go for my cardiologist visit they pull up my cardiac activity and can tell exactly what has gone on with my heart!! If per chance I feel out of the ordinary I use the keyfob option as well and it will red flag them to note my heart activity at that time. I think its a great idea. Ot beats walking around with a ho
Both my cardiologist and company using wrist watch/cell phone told me it does not work with SVT caused by extra conductor/node. This device sounds different since it's an inserted loop. Is there a telephone # I can call to follow up?
Kardia Mobile is not a heart "monitor" in the sense that it monitors your pulse, so the inaccuracies you are speaking about are not pertinent. It's simply a very small device that allows you take an ekg anytime you want in conjunction with your smart phone.
Kardia Band, on the other hand, does have a Smart rhythm feature that uses your pulse rate to alert you when to take an EKG. This feature does rely on the light‑sensitive photodiodes on the bottom of the Apple Watch and therefore has all the limitations of wrist based monitors versus chest strap monitors that use a different and more accurate technology. That said, when you take an actual EKG with the Kardia Band you are not using the watch's photodiodes to measure heart rate or take the EKG, but you are using the band itself which by all accounts generates a very accurate single lead EKG, even better than some of the event monitors that EP's hand out, at least according to a nurse I spoke to at an EP's office.
Here in UK at AF Association we first trialled Alivecor (now called Kardia) about five years ago I guess. I had one of the first but since my AF was terminated by ablation about 10 years ago I seldom use it. Last time I took it out of the box the battery was flat!
I bought my Kardia from Amazon UK four years ago and also find it invaluable for catching episodes of arrhythmia for showing to my doctor or merely to confirm what I suspect is happening. I use mine with my ipad - detest mobile phones 🙂
Annoyingly, the Kardia Mobile is GBP99 on Amazon in the UK (presently equivalent to $133). The monthly service (if you opt to take it) is GBP10 per month (instead of $9.99). I don’t believe there is a free cardiologist analysis or a physician referral programme (to automatically share your recordings with your physician) in the UK either.
When we first joined it was a free service, I think because they were still researching. We who bought early were automatically upgraded to what they now call the ‘premium’ monthly service. You don’t have to take the monthly service and you can email yourself the ecg if you want to keep the data - it converts to a PDF file.
I agree about the $/£ conversion though - really annoys me as many US based companies do that.
You can also buy a Kardia watch band for the iWatch, I was considering it but it’s a lot of money.
No, I doubt that there is any free service. However, you do NOT need to join the Alivecor program, and can simply save your recordings onto your mobile phone. I put mine into my Dropbox folder, and it therefore appears on all my electronic devices, including my PC. It can then be sent to your EP, GP or whoever. Alivecor's website also has some very good information and examples which permit you to do your own analysis.
I did say that the monthly service is optional but I admit that I omitted to mention that the PDF records can be emailed to whoever you like (are these what you then place in your dropbox?) but this is not an automatic process (the creation of the PDF file is part of the email process). Potential purchasers should also be aware that the automatic analysis only attempts to diagnose AF, it doesn't attempt to diagnose any other arrhythmias, although I don't personally think that this detracts from its usefulness. It's possible to send a recording to a UK-based clinician for review for a fee of £5 but I haven't tried this so can't comment on its value.
I’m not suggesting that it’s not useful in allowing you to identify other arrhytmias, just that it doesn’t itself automatically identify specific types of arrhythmias other than AF (as CDreamer states below).
I find the premium useful and always use the monthly figures to keep in my drop box for comparison , i like that i can at the same time i can keep blood pressure records as well every day, maybe it comes with non premium as well all ive ever known is premium and i like it
Agreed. I think that the 'email' service offered is totally mis-named, as it doesn't actually link to any kind of email service, it just offers to let you put the pdf file anywhere you like ready to be emailed. I put it into a Kardia folder in my Dropbox Documents folder on the Android phone, and then it appears on my tablet and PC etc. in the Dropbox folder. My Dropbox account is a free one. The Kardia Mobile app on the phone remembers where to put the file whenever I select 'email', so it is as automatic as you can get. I'm sure this would work with any other cloud service, from Google or whoever, and many are free to set up.
No doubt, if you have used it to send to the email app on your phone, this is what will happen next time you use it, but that's not how mine has been set.
No, I've never sent any of mine for analysis, but I did show the recordings to my EP and he just glanced at them and said, "Yes, that's AF". He then offered to put me on his list for ablation. I suspect that if I did not have the Kardia, I would have had to jump through many more hoops first, as the A&E seem to have lost my records from the first occurrence, and I don't know if the ambulance paramedics records get kept at all. The cardiologist at the same hospital seemed totally disinterested in my AF and only checked out the plumbing. My heart is otherwise good.
You don't need to pay for the Premium Service for Kardia Mobile but you are required to pay for it with Kardia Band, I assume because of its SmartRhythm monitoring feature. As mentioned, with Kardia Mobile you can simply email the tracings to yourself however much more convenient to have everything saved and in the cloud but it would be better if it were free.
As I have said to IanMK, the 'email' service is mis-named as it can simply link direct to whatever cloud service you use, provided it is on your phone/tablet you use the Kardia Mobile with. I have no knowledge of the Band, and I don't use any Apple or Microsoft anything.
Is this a difference in features between the Android and iOS apps? I can only see an email option on my iOS app. I can’t see any obvious option to place a copy of the recording anywhere.
Since I have never seen the iOS version, I can't comment. However, on my Android phone, and the one before that, and on two different Android tablets, selecting the 'email' option it says "creating pdf" and then offers a list of WhatsApp contacts, my K9 mail client, Skype, GMail, Add to Dropbox, Bluetooth, HP Print service, Save to Drive (Google?) When I select Dropbox, it already knows which folder it should be saved in.
Ah! That’s different then. Selecting the ‘email’ option in the iOS app opens the email app with the pdf file already attached. Then you simply add addressees in the ‘To’ field and hit ‘send’.
I email my daily readings from the Kardia to myself, and if its unusual I will email it to the doc, otherwise, I just keep it floating on the cloud - that way Im not paying for the subscription service, which I hear isn't so very good.
I too have the Kardia (UK). However it’s not placed on your chest but works by placing your fingers on the pads. I have found the diagnostic software to be rather poor at picking up my ectopics, saying I had a normal heartbeat when I clearly didn’t and will only say possible AF when I might be having AF (seem to have mainly ectopics now). It has however been very useful and would advise anyone suffering from related problems to get one. You can print out your ecg to show your cardiologist.
It has 3 possible readings - NSR - and that will include ectopics. Unclassified - I get those often when I have a bit of AFl and a bit iPod AF and a bit of NSR and Possible AF - when I know darned well I am in AF.
Legally they cannot offer a definitive diagnosis without a specialist looking at the trace and even then it can only give the equivalent of a lead 1 of a 12 lead diagnosis so although a useful tool, it really doesn’t replace a 12 lead.
Jes, if you look at the online manual there are actually there ways to use Kardia Mobile, one of which is to put it on our chest. Unfortunately the manual is not very clear on exactly how this is done. Kardia will pick up ectopics on the ekg, and they are in fact quite easy to read yourself, however the device is designed only to alert you to possible afib events, and not for ectopic events.
I have had a Kardia for a while, but I follow the instructions and use 2 fingers from each hand to take an ECG. Following my ablation in March, I was fine. Then developed some at. When this happened, I called the ad nurse and she asked for the ECG tracings from the last 30 days. I emailed them easily. In Berkshire, the NHS is giving out Kardias to people with at for monitoring purposes.
I have been looking to buy a Kardia for some time to record the changes in my AF with a view to seeking a private consultation with an EP but I own neither a smart phone or an Ipad so would have to buy one as well as the Kardia.
I found the compatibility list on the Kardia website to be very limited with items being either outdated/obsolete or very expensive .
I contacted Kardia UK with regard to the compatibility of either a Doro 8040 with an Android 7.0 Nougat OS or the new ipad 2018 ios 11, neither on the Kardia website compatibility list and was told they couldn't say for sure but I could return the Kardia if it didn't work .
I don't understand if the small differences in updated operating systems will make items incompatible and don't much like the idea of having to buy a number of expensive items, fiddle around with them and return them if they prove to be incompatible. I would have thought Kardia would have had a little more up to date information.
In my opinion, I would be a little more concerned about compatibility with an Android device because the hardware will vary from one to another. I would be most surprised if an Apple device was incompatible. Remember, too, that there is always a (probably small) risk that an Android or iOS update could also have an effect on compatibility.
In my case, both my iPhone (6S) and iPad mini(1) worked first time with no fiddling.
Well, the Android app also gets updates at intervals, although I don't see much difference in how it works after any of them. One thing that did change since I first started using mine was that it now auto inverts the trace, so it doesn't matter which way up you hold it. That used to be an option you had to choose.
It worked on my old Samsung S4Mini and my old Hudl2 (which I still have but it's now too slow to be useful and no longer supported). It now works on my Moto G5 and my Huawei M3 tablet. I don't see Android support going away while the OS is still THE highest volume in the world.
I really don’t think the updated iOS has any relevance to the device itself otherwise my 5 year old Kardia wouldn’t work with ios11 BUT the app version availability may have some relevance and obviously the apps are specific to either iOS systems or android as they are the most common versions. My Kardia works through Bluetooth through the microphone - but of course Apple are in the process of eliminating microphone/headset portals which means I won’t be able to use the new hardware with my Kardia - can’t win, no which way🤤🙁
Don’t worry CDreamer. Apple phones will continue to have a microphone until it connects with the user telepathically 😉. The Kardia communicates with the phone via high frequency sound waves.
When an OS (iOS or Android) is updated it is normal to see app updates too. The app updates are the responsibility of the app developer. For each IOS or Android device, there are differences between each device that require adjustments (I.e. tweaks) for each issue of OS. For iOS, there are a relatively small number of devices compared to Android devices and these are all under the control of - and tested by - Apple. This is the reason why iOS products integrate with each other so well. Apps and their updates are also tested by Apple before being made available in the App Store. This is not the case with Android, which is developed by Google. The various Android product manufacturers have to tweak Google’s OS before release on their devices and the app developer has no way of testing his app update on all devices. Consequently, there is a finite risk that an updated app may not work on one or more Android products.
Hi. I have used both the Kardia Mobile and I agree they can be helpful with afib monitoring and in most cases relieve anxiety depending on one's specific condition and personality. Curious, why do you take the readings from your chest and not just put the Kardia Mobile on a hard surface and use your fingers as they show in their promotions? Did your cardiologist or EP recommend this to you? Also, could you explain in a little more detail exactly how it's done on the chest as the Kardia manual is a little vague. Thanks.
I've been using my Kardia since before an ablation in January, and 2 subsequent cardioversions. I believe the cardiologist likes it more than I do, as I'm about to shop for a new phone and it restricts my choices. Good luck to you!
Morning, Jim. I started placing the sensor on my chest - silly as it sounds - to be “closer to the source “.
When I received the Kardia the info pack said the chest was an alternative location. So I tried it and just from habit it’s my go to spot. If I’m in a public place I’ll use the fingers. Haven’t really noticed a better reading one over the other.
On the chest I Place the sensor at the bottom of my left pectoral muscle near center chest. Then position my phone against it. Makes for a bit more work and clothes handling but it works for me.
Thanks for the explanation. I just tried it on my chest a few times with varying degrees of success but I don't have it attached to my phone so not sure I'm doing it correctly. I also read that the studies were based on Kardia's "lead 1" readings which are definitely when you use the fingers but not sure if it's a lead 1 reading when you use your chest. When you use your right knee it's a "lead 2" reading. I tried that one and it didn't seem to work very well. With the Kardia Band, it seems you can only do a lead 1 reading since it's designed for your thumb. Nice if AliveCor had some better documentation with pictures/videos using the device in different positions with and without being attached to the phone.
BTW when looking at some YouTube videos or the link provided by "doodles68"
it looks like maybe an older version of Kardia Mobile, or maybe that's just what the Kardia Iphone case looks like. My Kardia mobile is just a thin strip like in this picture here:
This is an interesting article with regard to placing Kardia electrodes with a diagram of the body ....
Quote...
'' Imagine the heart is in the middle of an inverted triangle. Lead I goes from Left arm to Right Arm. Lead II from Left leg to Right arm and Lead III from Left leg to Left Arm. The ECG trace looks slightly different in each of these views but typically the P wave which indicates the top part of the heart called the atria shows up best in lead II.''
Thanks. Is that the older version of Kardia Mobile depicted in the pictures or is that just what the Kardia Iphone case looks like? My Kardia mobile looks like this:
The one pictured looks like what I have but I don’t know what improvements , if any, have been made. I see they have raised the price for the iPhone case! Got mine from them for only $6. Now it’s $29!?
Hi Mj I don't know but I would think old or new the electrode pads are probably pretty much the same and the article does show someone putting one pad on the left knee to get a slightly different reading .
I have found some details that indicate the App has gone through various stages ...
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Kardiamobile single lead basic understanding of ECG/EKG
Kardia Mobile by AliveCor
Pvcs and pacs following acute afib episode and Apple watch ecg/ekg
frequency of ekg when on Flecainide
Wierd ekg at first 5 seconds
