Kardia Mobile

There is this interesting personal EKG device from AliveCor, called Kardia Mobile that works with an Android or iPhone app. I bought it to monitor my Afib episodes.

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For the life of me I can't figure out how the device communicate wirelessly with the phone. My first thought was NFC, but it workd even with NC turned off. Same for BlueTooth. Any idea how the phone communicates with the sensor device?

Reply to
cameo
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From

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"The monitor contains 2 electrodes. It can be connected to the back of a smartphone or tablet using an adhesive attachment plate or used within range of a mobile device, to allow it to communicate wirelessly (using proprietary high frequency sound transmission) with the AliveECG app..."

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Jeff
Reply to
Jeff Layman

That brings up more questions than it answers! Is it using feedback from the motion sensors then? I doubt it would be using the microphone for that...but what do I know?

Reply to
DemonicTubes

I was thinking about getting one of those but I don't want to get their permission to look at the EKGs, or anything else. My cardiologist wouldn't be interested in the data, anyway. If he wants to see my EKG, he'll strap one on me. How useful is a two-wire EKG?

Reply to
krw

The IOs manual states that the output is a FM audio tone at 19kHz That's interesting.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

It also states the app needs access to the microphone on the phone. So it does look like it communicates with a 19kHz FM tone with a deviation of +/-200Hz. On another site, they warn than users with hearing aids will experiance interferance, and need to turn them off.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

Interesting. I thought the microphone is only needed to add voice comments to the measurements that are transmitted to AliveCor for analysis. What bugs me that their docs don't say anything about this proprietary tone transmission method.

Reply to
cameo

I think you're righ about it. I would not buy it again myself and only did it after looking for a long time to find some smart watch that would monitor my heart rate on a continuous basis and the app would be smart enough to record only the afib episodes. As mine are asymptomatic, I need a way to know just how often they happen and under what conditions. Those episodes seldom, if ever show up when I am at my doctor's office. I also don't like to be hooked up with some chest straps for the time being and my cardiologist did not recommend it either.

Reply to
cameo

Well, I "know" then I'm in arrhythmia. Actually, I know a couple of days before it happens. My cardiologist has even started to listen to me. ;-) I don't go into A-Fib, anymore. The Maze procedure took care of that but apparently a significant number of people who have had the Maze procedure start having A-Flutter which, IMO, is even worse.

In addition to the Maze procedure, two ablations, and five cardioversions (one during the last ablation a couple of months ago, which they did while I was conscious). My cardiologist hooks me up to a heart monitor for several days when I'm having issues. He's scheduled another one for November but I think that's only a day or two. I didn't even ask him about the Kardia device. He really isn't interested in my pulse rate data (continuous for over a year) or BP data (almost daily for a similar time). He want's more data than they show.

Reply to
krw

Did you have the new minimaze procedure? The original Cox maze procedure is pretty radical, IMHO.

Reply to
cameo

The original. They did it along with a 3-fer CABG three years ago.

Reply to
krw

At this stage I would not submit to the original procedure as the likelyhood of dying from the operation looks greater than from possible Afib stroke. However, I would consider minimaze if I found a competent surgeon around my area with good outcome stats and would take medicare patients.

Reply to
cameo

They took care of the worst of the stroke possibilities at the same time, by closing off the left-atrial appendage. That said, if I knew then what I know now, I would have questioned it a lot more. If I didn't have the MAZE, they wouldn't have needed the heart-lung machine during the CABG, which is like more dangerous than either.

You're lucky you're symptomatic. If I were, they wouldn't do a thing. At the beginning of the summer, my cardiologist told me that "eventually, yours will degenerate far enough that you won't notice it, and then we won't have to do anything". The arrhythmia isn't dangerous in itself. Sometimes, when I'm in A-Fl, they don't even put me on a blood thinner (though I am now, even after the ablation and cardioversions). Little things like sleep are important to me though. ;-)

Reply to
krw

You misread me: I am Asymptomatic!

Reply to
cameo

Sorry, that's what I meant. You're lucky. I wouldn't have gone through what I have if I could even put up with it but, along with other issues, I can't sleep when I'm in arrhythmia.

Reply to
krw

Sorry to hear that. How often did you have those episodes?

Reply to
cameo

Once ten years ago, then three years ago, right before the CABG. It's been every six or eight months for the last two and it takes two or three months to get it corrected.

Reply to
krw

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