Can your Apple Watch prevent a stroke?

​The American Heart Association, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and the University of California, San Francisco are partnering together to see if your apple watch can help prevent strokes by detecting Afib, the most common cause of stroke in America.

"Afib is a heart rhythm disorder characterized by fast and irregular heartbeats from the upper chambers of the heart. People with afib have increased risk of stroke, so many are continuously treated with blood-thinning medication to reduce that risk. But this treatment also raises the risk of bleeding, according to Passman, and balancing the risks and benefits can be challenging for both patients and physicians.”

Set to launch next spring, a study that will last 7 years and recruit over 5,400 patients will monitor Afib to see if there can be a reduction in the dependency of blood thinners. Patients will receive both treatments and will be monitored continuously for data and improvements.  The watch will be able to notify the patient when they enter an afib episode and control, and ultimately limit, the length of time on blood thinners to only the high risk period of stroke.

The success of this study could allow Apple to tout the wearing medical device and solidyify the entry into this new field for their company.  Their first dip into the medical device field came when they included the FDA-cleared electrocardiogram feature to their 2018 model. Not only will they measure the effectiveness of this study, but they will also be able to measure patient satisfaction and likelihood to buy.