First-Year Medical Students Experience Alivecor Kardia Mobile ECG Devices

Alivecor Kardia Mobile is an FDA-cleared mobile device that pairs with a tablet or smartphone to enable the capture of medical-grade ECGs in 30 seconds with data similar to Lead 1 of a regular 12 lead ECG. A device such as this that can easily be purchased on Amazon for $88 can change the way patients and physicians monitor conditions like atrial fibrillation as demonstrated in a recent study.

In a small-group session held this morning on “Reading Electrocardiograms” in the Medical Physiology and Pathophysiology course, first-year medical students were given access to an Alivecor Kardia Mobile device paired with an iPad and took their own ECG readings. They took part in activities such as running in place or doing push-ups to see how exercise affected their heart rates and discussed their findings with Drs. Cahalan, Greenberg,  Caiozzo, and Jairaman who facilitated the session. More significantly, one student was able to learn from the Kardia Mobile device during this session that he had atrial fibrillation and will visit Student Health services for follow-up.

To learn more about mobile medical devices, the new doctor’s bag and iMedEd Initiative, visit: iMedEd Service Request Form