A new, 7-year study aims to reduce blood thinner medication use and lower the risk of AFib with the help of the Apple Watch.
The study has recently received a funding of $37 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and will focus on lowering dependency on blood thinners, which is not only expensive but can bring about problems such as bleeding and more. AFib, or atrial fibrillation is a condition that plagues the US, with 2.5 million to 5 million citizens affected by it.
As part of the partnership between the Northwestern Medicine and the American Heart Association, the study attempts to use Apple Watch to monitor for possible AFib, thanks to built-in technology such as the ECG app and heart-related notifications.
Apple is said to be donating the hardware and making apps for study use, including a custom algorithm to check heart rhythms to see if they’re unusually high.
