“It’s a busy office day, and Mrs. J is seated calmly in my exam room. She has a history of an intermittent heart rhythm disturbance. She says she feels well, but that she also gets a little dizzy at times and feels her heart skip once in a while. The nurse who took the vitals typed “pulse irregular” on the electronic chart. The last few times Mrs. J was in the office, the vitals were similar, and an ECG was usually obtained, showing only a minor abnormality.

Instead, I pull out my smartphone and ask Mrs. J to hold it gently in her hands for 15 seconds. Voila! On its display (and immediately uploaded wirelessly to a secured server) is Mrs. J’s heart rhythm, showing no significant change“

Prospero B. Gogo MD, Interventional Cardiologist, Associate Professor at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Fletcher Allen Health Care, has trouble containing his FanBoyism for the Alivecor ECG case and the opportunity it offers for transformational new mHealth services that will improve the lives of patients.

Hatip: Alexandra Tursi

Related: Notes on my experiences with the iPhone ECG from Alivecor