Since the summer of 2016 Quiver has the exclusive right to distribute Kardia Mobile and KardiaMobile 6L, electrocardiographs produced by the US company AliveCor since 2011. The Kardia Mobile 6L by AliveCor is a device slightly thicker than a credit card, less than 9 centimeters long and 3 wide, which allows you to perform a six-lead electrocardiogram wherever you are. The measurement takes just 30 seconds and is completely reliable. Let's find out together how this portable ECG works and how reliable it is.
- KardiaMobile 6L: how it works and what it detects
- KardiaMobile 6L ECG: practicality and reliability
- Short interview with Luca Poggesi of Quiver
KardiaMobile 6L: how it works
The KardiaMobile 6L, which the writer has been testing since last December, works in a simple way: once you have downloaded the Kardia Mobile app (available for both Android and iOS) on your smartphone, you need to pair the two devices via Bluetooth.
Subsequently, the electrode present on the lower plane of the Kardia electrocardiograph is placed on the left thigh, near the knee, or on the ankle of the same leg. By pressing gently with one or two fingers of each hand the two electrodes of the upper plane, the recording of the ECG begins, which is completed after thirty seconds.
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What the electrocardiograph detects
The Kardia detects bradycardia and tachycardia (i.e. heartbeats below 50 and above 100 per minute respectively), normal heart rhythm and atrial fibrillation. Once registered, the data can be sent to your doctor by e-mail, or with any application that allows the forwarding of files with pdf extension.
KardiaMobile 6L ECG: practicality and reliability
The KardiaMobile 6L is entirely portable. The device fits in a pocket and can be used wherever you are. If you do not have the possibility to bare part of your leg for the six-lead trace, you can still place your fingertips on the upper electrodes and obtain a single-lead ECG: this is what the KardiaMobile, the basic version of the product, detects.
Health authorities have approved the Kardia as medical device: this is thethe only certified 6-lead pocket ECG in the world, with a'97% reliability regarding atrial fibrillation.
An important health protection
Now that more and more people suffer from more or less serious heart diseases, a device like the Kardia Mobile 6L can perform a triple important function of diagnosis, monitoring and prevention. It can be used in case of palpitations, heartache, heart pain or in any case feelings of oppression, or simply as a periodic check of one's health.
Short interview with Luca Poggesi of Quiver
A few weeks after sending the KardiaMobile 6L for testing, I call Luca Poggesi, founder of Quiver (Kardia's sole distributor for Italy) together with Eduardo Casalini Demarchi, to find out more about their adventure.
Poggesi explains to me that the idea of making the product known to the Italian public was born on the benches of the University, attended together with Eduardo. Both computer scientists, they combined Luca's entrepreneurial skills with Eduardo's aptitude for technological projects in favor of people in difficulty (such as ramps for the disabled).
Thanks to the high reliability of the product, Luca tells me, Quiver has chosen a different distribution for the Italian market than the one predominant in the USA: we relied not so much on the web as on cardiologists. In fact, continues Luca, the Kardia Mobile 6L to date has the support of over 100 scientific publications, to which must be added the 300 and more articles that have appeared on PubMed.
Ma the success of the product is also due to the immediacy of useCardiac complications are often not detected by holter, while measurements for longer periods are invasive (think about the implantation of subcutaneous monitors).
Today, several smartwatch brands are also presenting models equipped with ECGs, but their reliability is still in question.
Kardia and lifestyle
The idea, continues Poggesi, is that the KardiaMobile 6L portable electrocardiograph helps on the one hand to increase the degree of attention towards one's health, on the other to refrain from the temptation to self-diagnose. Beyond the result of the ECG that appears immediately on the app, it is in fact necessary to show the traces to a medical professional.
Atrial fibrillation, concludes Luca Poggesi, is one of the most common arrhythmias, and can cause stroke and sudden death. Yes to limit the risks of cardiovascular problems it is always advisable to do physical activity, eat in a healthy and varied way, not to smoke and not to undergo excessive stress, a control tool literally at hand can be an excellent ally.
TagsAliveCor Kardia Mobile KardiaMobile 6L Quiver KardiaMobile 6L, technology and safety at your fingertips
