Surprising (for me) Professional Use of an iPhone... (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

This may not be all that surprising to you tech-savvy geeks that hang out in this forum, but it really surprised me.

We recently took my newly adopted Golden Retriever, Ike, to his first examination by our family veterinarian...who promptly revealed a much lower-than-normal pulse in the dog.

The vet took an office iPhone and proceeded to do a single-line EKG on the dog to get a good preliminary read on what was going on! It turns out besides a specialty app, the phone is fitted with a $200 cover with special electrodes built into the cover that provide a very good, elementary, heart rate for vets to use as a diagnostic tool. Based on that reading, the vet decided to follow-up with a more advanced EKG to rule out various issues that might be going on with the dog's heart.

Apparently, the device is really good for finding problems in cats who don't display many symptoms when suffering from heart issues.

Our vet says there is also the capacity to use similar software to take human heart rates.

My wife blogged about the experience and uses images of the phone and its sensors and the display to give an idea of what went down.

If interested, take a look HERE.

 

[Sam Posten]

You can actually monitor heart rates with an off the shelf Kinect2. Crazy times.

I got to test this a few years ago, seriously badass:


Not quite ready for iPhone tho, yet!

 

[DavidJ]

I thought you were going to say it was used for a business call.

 

[Parker Clack]

Mike:

From the EKG that the vets iPhone showed it looks like your dog was having PACs or pre-mature atrial contractions
which can sometimes continue on to a heart block. The SA or sinus arrthymia isn't that big of a deal but both point to
a potential electrical conduction abnormality of the heart. The main things to watch out for is if the dog is less
energetic, loses appetite or wants to sleep all the time (more so than usual). This type of arrthymia can lead to a
heart block that in the end would require a pacemaker (not sure if they have pacemakers for dogs).

Thanks for the post. It is amazing what they can do with these portable devices now.

 

[schan1269]

Mike:

From the EKG that the vets iPhone showed it looks like your dog was having PACs or pre-mature atrial contractions which
can sometimes continue on to a heart block. The SA or sinus arrthymia isn't that big of a deal but both point to a potential
electrical conduction abnormality of the heart. The main things to watch out for is if the dog is less energetic, loses appetite
or wants to sleep all the time (more so than usual). This type of arrthymia can lead to a heart block that in the end would
require a pacemaker (not sure if they have pacemakers for dogs).

Thanks for the post. It is amazing what they can do with these portable devices now.

Yep...on the pacemaker...
http://pupculturemagazine.com/canine-pacemakers-giving-patients-a-new-leash-on-life/

 

[Mike Frezon]

Mike:

From the EKG that the vets iPhone showed it looks like your dog was having PACs or pre-mature atrial contractions which
can sometimes continue on to a heart block. The SA or sinus arrthymia isn't that big of a deal but both point to a potential
electrical conduction abnormality of the heart. The main things to watch out for is if the dog is less energetic, loses appetite
or wants to sleep all the time (more so than usual). This type of arrthymia can lead to a heart block that in the end would
require a pacemaker (not sure if they have pacemakers for dogs).

Thanks for the post. It is amazing what they can do with these portable devices now.

Parker, you are amazing. Reading the EKG line on the vet's iPhone!

Yes, we heard a lot about the Sinus Arhythmia. But I'm not sure I remember hearing about PACs. But the overall message was the same...to watch the dog's behavior and if he ever starts to get lethargic to treat it as potentially serious and heart-related. Right now, however, he is all-systems-go! Full of vim and vigor!

And, yes, we did hear about the potential for a pacemaker...but we also hear they they are mega-expensive for dogs.

The iPhone app WAS pretty cool though. Depending upon how she held it up against where the dog's heart is located determined the "level" of the EKG line. Another way to describe that is when she first put the phone against the dog, the line was recording at an angle...but when she got it situated properly it read properly horizontal.

And then they can simply transfer a copy of the reading into the dog's medical file. Simple as the push of a button.

The other "real" EKG device they used looked to be about from the 1960s (like a 5" real-to-reel recorder!)--maybe a Wollensak(!)--but it still worked perfectly fine. You can hear it spitting out the paper reading in the video clip on my wife's blog.

 

[Parker Clack]

Really cool device. Looks like you have to be doctor to order one though. The rhythm from the first strip is definitely
bigeminal PACs. The problem with a device like this though is that is only gives you one lead. So many heart
conditions can only be diagnosed with multiple leads. And with this device only being in lead I and most
atrial arrthymias are best picked up on in lead II it would only be good for a cursory exam and a follow up
EKG (as was done) would be needed.

We are getting closer and closer to the next device from Star Trek to be made a reality. Good ol' Bones medical
tricorder.