Apple's smart watch can accurately detect atrial fibrillation, a condition associated with an increased risk of stroke that affects about 6 million people in the United States alone, many of them do not know they have atrial fibrillation, US researchers reported on Monday.
Stanford University of Medicine has published its long-awaited research on Apple Heart, one of the largest research efforts of its kind that relies on wearable consumer devices to better understand human health.
The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), come as technology companies are increasingly partnering with drug makers as a way to collect large amounts of real-time health data about individuals.
The Apple study, conducted by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, tested Apple's heart rate sensor and algorithm with more than 400,000 participants with the Apple Watch and used the app to record the eight-month trial.
About 0.5 percent of the study participants - just over 2,000 people - received a warning that they had an irregular pulse, and the authors believe the findings should allay fears that the device will increase alerts in healthy participants.
A wearable EKG patch was sent to monitor heart rhythm for two weeks before being returned to people who received an irregular pulse warning, revealing atrial fibrillation in 34 percent of them.
Dr. Mintu Turakhia, a cardiologist at Stanford University and co-author of the study, said the aim was to assess the quality of the algorithm and whether it was safe.
Dr. Daniel Cantillon, a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist who did not participate in the study, described the technology as promising, but said that more than half of those enrolled were under 40, a group already at risk of atrial fibrillation.