Apple Watch Series 4 will now be available in Europe and Hong Kong with industry-first features like ECG reading app and irregular rhythm notification.
With the watchOS 5.2 on the Apple Watch Series 4, customers in 19 European countries including Germany will be able to take ECG reading.
Apple said in a statement on Wednesday that all recordings including their associated classifications and any noted symptoms are stored securely in the Health app on iPhones and the ECG app will allow customers to take electrocardiogram right from their wrist.
It will help in capturing heart rhythms on demand, even in situations when users experience symptoms like a rapid or skipped heartbeat that will help in providing clinically important data to physicians.
With the Apple watch, irregular rhythm notification feature occasionally checks the heart rhythm in the background and sends notification in case of irregular heart rhythm, which appears to be atrial fibrillation (AFib) is identified and the ECG app and irregular rhythm notification feature easily alert users to signs of AFib.
Jeff Williams, Apple's Chief Operating Officer, "We've seen the ECG app and irregular rhythm notifications on Apple Watch have meaningful impact on our customers across the US".
Compared to an ECG administered by a cardiologist, a recent clinical trial of around 600 participants found that the ECG app on Apple Watch showed 98.3 per cent sensitivity in analysing AFib and 99.6 per cent specificity in distinguishing sinus rhythm in classifiable recordings.
The Apple Heart Study recently studied the irregular rhythm notification feature that found "only 0.5 per cent of participants received irregular pulse notifications, an important finding gave concerns about potential over-notification."
