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RESEARCHERS EXPLORE NEW FRONTIERS IN HEART HEALTH WITH APPLE WATCH
In a single day , the heart of an average , healthy adult beats more than 100,000 times . Beat by beat , day by day , a picture begins to emerge – an image that goes largely unseen . Apple Watch can help make the invisible , visible . With heart health features – including high and low heart notifications , Cardio Fitness , irregular rhythm notifications , the ECG app and AFib History – Apple gives users an everdeveloping view of their health with actionable insights .
The same advanced technology that provides insights to help users better understand their health also has the potential to open the door to discovery for the research and medical communities . Since Apple launched ResearchKit and CareKit in 2015 , researchers , clinicians and developers have found innovative new ways to study , track and treat a broad range of conditions .
To further drive discoveries that improve health at scale , Apple launched the Investigator Support Programme . Through this programme , Apple provides researchers with Apple Watch devices , enabling them to break new ground in health research , including the scientific understanding of the heart .
Apple is spotlighting the cutting-edge work of health researchers around the world who are using Apple Watch to study the heart like never before
Associate Professor Rachel Conyers and Dr . Claudia Toro are Senior Pediatric Oncologists from Melbourne , Australia , primarily spending their days caring for children in a tertiary pediatric oncology clinic and researching toxicities related to children ’ s cancer therapies within the Murdoch Children ’ s Research Institute .
Together they are looking at how treatment can impact heart rhythm and are trying to identify innovative ways to intervene . The inspiration for their work comes from their patients – both success stories and heartbreak .
Toxicities in cancer treatment can lead to heart rhythm disturbances , such as prolonged QT syndrome , which can be potentially life-threatening . Prolonged QT creates an irregular heart rhythm , increasing the time needed for blood to flow through the heart .
Because of their susceptibility to long QT , children receiving cancer treatment are routinely screened at least once per week with a 12-lead electrocardiogram , according to Dr . Conyers . However , outpatients still need access to monitoring .
“ I read about the Apple Heart Study and I thought this could be important for paediatrics ,” said Conyers . “ We used to think of cardiac toxicity as something that happened 10 years after treatment . But now we know that new cancer therapies 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 .”
In the coming months , Dr . Conyers and her team at the Murdoch Children ’ s Research Institute will begin researching the sensitivity of the Apple Watch ECG app in 40 children and adolescent patients . From there , the team will look for ways for patients to take their ECGs wherever they are , whenever they ’ re able . With those insights , the team hopes to better understand the reality of cardiac toxicity and identify potential opportunities for intervention . �
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