The TGA has had discussions with Apple Australia regarding the regulation of software as a medical device according to an email I received from them.
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Apple Confirms ECG Functionality is Coming to Canada 'as Quickly as Possible'
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Normally Health Canada pretty much rubber stamps stuff that the FDA or whatever agency is involved in the States does. Not all the time but enough that it's safe to say that, and that's backed up by my wife's experience as a Neo Natal ICU nurse for 31 years. She's seen more cool tech come and go than any of us ever will.
The Anglosphere is a perfect term for it. With the ECG feature on the Apple Watch there was some negative press from Canadian Cardiologists about patients self diagnosing and the rabbit hole that would lead them down without a doctor intervening. They were also concerned about the single lead results of the Watch ECG app as apposed to the multiple leads (God, there are so many when they stick them to my chest, arms and legs that I lose count) of a hospital based ECG. My personal experience was my Cardiologist voicing those concerns specifically and otherwise dismissing wearable tech as second rate. He doesn't like me self diagnosing as it is and there's a bit of "King of the hill" syndrome going on, but I get their concerns, I just don't care about them. I'm going to use it to alert me of my arrhythmias and to track their activity from a timeline standpoint. It will help me give my doctors better information based on trackable results which is always better than anecdotal accounts. Besides cardiac issues I'm ADHD so I don't remember stuff like I should and when my heart goes into arrhythmia I certainly am not busting out a spreadsheet and tracking times for the doctor.
I mention this because I can't help but feel that Health Canada may have been taking its time approving the features because of push back from the medical community here. What's taking Apple so long to make the damned thing live now is anybody's guess but I'm getting sick of waiting.
Oh ya, my thoughts on providing doctors with trackable event info from my Apple Watch isn't just a theory. I've used the heart rate tracking results to provide ER doctors with my heart rates during two emergency visits for racing heart issues. The visible tracking helped them diagnose and release me faster than they would have if they had had to wait six hours to produce their own baseline results. I'm not pushing hard for the ECG functions because I'm just a nerd. This is going to be a real help in managing my cardiac issues. C'mon Apple. Let's git 'er done!!
Thanks for acknowledging that Canada is different than America. We are similar to the US in that we have cars and roads and houses and stuff but we are also so insanely different that you really do have to spend time in both countries to notice how different we are. We get bombarded by American everything in ways that only Mexico would understand and America remembers we're up here when they blame us for the cold weather. That's the relationship, so you are correct that our regulatory process isn't the same as the US and agree that fussing over why certain countries get the ECG feature before others is like trying to figure out why Grandma likes cousin Timmy the best. Life is full of unexplained mysteries. At least we know it's coming now and we'll do what we always do when Apple announces something cool and new.....wait six months while Americans work the bugs out. Let them beta test this one. I'm fine with that.
Sorry, yeah I phrased my comment incorrectly. ECG and Kardia will record any abnormalities but will not alert you. Additionally, where Kardia is concerned, it does a kind of instant analysis, and it reports no abnormalities at all, even when you can see one on the readout, if you dont have AFib.
Yeah I'm sure it has. Maybe next year, eh? or with the new Apple Watch (which is the one I am waiting for. I'm still on Series 1)
I was skeptical at first, but I tried the ECG on myself, and said I'm ok, then tried on my father's wrist. He was recently diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, and the Watch reported the same.
Sorry but a medical device that just potentially detects an issue as a senior is NOT affecting any life in this regard and instance.
That’s not up to you to decide, that’s up to the regulators. If you feel you know better, go work for the regulators to change things. If not, your complaints are only a noise.
That’s odd, I decided with my dollars and the choice evidently is mine. In context of the ECG feature in the Watch S4, it’s a sensor and it’s not hurting nub s4 user across the globe whom has also chosen with their dolllars. Considering the demand and purchases I’d say this noise you speak of and have responded to, is worth a lot more.
If you really believe regulars are making choices purely and solely for the well being of their citizens, lol, then I could point you to the bank account of Mr Ford (present and past here in Ontario & Toronto respectively; brothers). As of right now it’s all about greasing the right palms with the right amount; else this product would NOT have been made available for sale if there was any REAL concern for the safety of consumers here in Canada.
But your opinion is just as valid as mine. The same regulators were irresponsible in placing fine controls of medical substances allowing them to be easily available for street narcotic consumption, so I wouldn’t believe in their “best interests” as the right way to do things only.
Unless you started voting for the politicians that share your views, and/or participate in the lawmaking process itself, your complaints don't really mean anything, tbh. In the end, Apple has to follow the regulations, period.