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Qardio has announced that QardioCore, a wearable electrocardiogram monitor, is now available for pre-order on its website for $449.

qardiocore.jpg

QardioCore was first introduced at CES 2015 as the world's first wearable ECG/EKG monitor, enabling users to proactively look after their cardiovascular health without the need to wear wires or patches. Instead, the QardioCore is worn as an adjustable chest strap fitting chests between 27.5" and 43" in size.

The medical-grade wearable, pending FDA approval, uses sensors to record clinically accurate continuous ECG, heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and activity data, which can be shared with medical professionals or synced to the free Qardio app or Apple's Health app on iPhone or iPad using Bluetooth 4.0.
ECG monitors sense the tiny electrical charges on the skin arising from the heart muscle's electrophysiological activity. Most ECG monitors are bulky and burdensome, require a complicated fitting in the doctor's office or provide limited information on the user's heart performance. QardioCore, by contrast, is wearable and designed for continuous monitoring anytime and anywhere.
QardioCore's built-in battery, rechargeable via USB-A, delivers a full day of continual use on a single charge. The monitor will be on display at CES this week alongside Qardio's existing products, including the QardioArm smart blood pressure monitor, QardioBase wireless scale and body analyzer, and QardioMD medical dashboard.

QardioCore has an expected shipping date of April 2017 for pre-orders placed now. It comes in white and is IP65-rated splash-resistant. Those interested in learning more can read the QardioCore FAQ for additional information.

Article Link: CES 2017: Qardio Launches iPhone-Compatible Chest Strap to Wirelessly Monitor Your Heart Health
 

2457282

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I can see this as a very useful tool for people that have concerns regarding their heart. People with arrhythmia or other such problems might get lots of good data to better understand and manage their situation. But at a price higher than the AppleWatch, I am not sure this is something for the a casual runner where the AW or Fitbit is good enough.
 

BruceEBonus

macrumors 65816
Sep 23, 2007
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Or you could just spend nowt. Get your doctor to arrange a 24 hour monitor witha PROPER ECG lead placement nd have it analysed by a human cardiologist consultant with decades of differential diagnostic experience with humans. However. If you do have a fe hundred quid to chuck about and it helps you feel better "cos it says it's real good an' techningloginkal an' that, innit an' looksh like summink outta that Star Trek that Wotsisface Bones bloke might use". Then you jolly well go out and spend that disposable income right away!
 
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barkomatic

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Aug 8, 2008
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I can see this as a very useful tool for people that have concerns regarding their heart. People with arrhythmia or other such problems might get lots of good data to better understand and manage their situation. But at a price higher than the AppleWatch, I am not sure this is something for the a casual runner where the AW or Fitbit is good enough.

If this device could let someone know if they are having a heart attack, that's a solid use case right there. From the description, I'm not certain that it could clearly do that.
 

jimbobb24

macrumors 68040
Jun 6, 2005
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For people for whom there is concern of heart arrhythmias they have devices to test their rhythm. As far as just checking your heart because your worried - not sure how that is useful. But some people will get one anyway. Sounds more like a tool for cardiologists to send home with people.
 
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weave

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Jan 4, 2003
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I've bought two of their products, the BP cuff and the scale. Had issues with both.

1) The cuff is touchy. Doesn't always wake up correctly. Through a lot of trial and error I've found if I disable bluetooth on my phone and re-enable it, it will connect -- usually. Other times I have to remove the batteries and basically reboot the thing. I think it may be because I have a lot of bluetooth devices my phone connects to (Tile trackers) so it's not very good with that situation. By disabling bluetooth and reenable it probably lets it connect to the cuff that way.

2) The scale on the other hand drove me ******* crazy. It would almost always report a Wifi connection error. I was actually told I have to only have one AP in my house *AND* I should disable 5ghz radio on it so my phone doesn't associate with 5ghz SSID. WTF? The phone and the scale have to be on the same AP, not just on same broadcast network. Even then I couldn't get it to work reliably. I *could* get it to work OK at work with a Cisco AP but my Apple Time capsule seemed to have issues. You'd think for a product that they push to work on Apple devices, they'd spend more time testing on Apple APs.

I eventually got a refund on the scale but it took me several weeks and numerous tech calls where they wanted to help me debug the problem. I eventually had to insist I hated the thing, *PLEASE* let me return it -- and they did finally.

Now this was a year ago, so maybe they've fixed the issues, but the quality control and user experience makes me hesitant to trust them on a device like this.
 

avanpelt

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Jun 2, 2010
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I have the blood pressure cuff from Qardio and it's served me well for over a year and is so much better than a traditional blood pressure cuff due to the iPhone integration. I'm glad to see them expanding to new products that can give the people who need this kind of thing actionable information that they can take to their doctor.
 

Mike Oxard

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2009
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The Kardia Mobile from Alivecor is a lot cheaper and much smaller. They also have a service where you can get a professional analysis done (for a fee)
Also it connects to the iPhone using very high pitched sound which is great for annoying teenagers
https://www.alivecor.com/en/
 

Appleboy65

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2017
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I am definitely interested, I need to check my heart rate weekly and I was just looking for some advanced solution to monitor my heart. This company looks fine and only who used the actual ECG can understand how much they are painful (sticky straps etc.). From the pictures it looks light and great I am very curious to test it!
 

BruceEBonus

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Sep 23, 2007
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Fact is. You CANNOT perform a 12 Lead ECG with this so it is definitively non diagnostic. Only after a proper blood enzyme test to eliminate myocardial damage can a true picture be confirmed. But it does look like it does the business and that's good enough for a lot of gullible folks. Cheers!
 
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Jetfire

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Jul 10, 2008
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So it's finally out of vaporware phase. I think this has been rumored for like 3+ years now.

Oh wait expected ship date is April 2017. Maybe I spoke to early.
[doublepost=1483470717][/doublepost]
It's a bad design period, and looks uncomfortable for anyone. No need to reinvent the look of a chest strap from what is already out there...Polar, Garmin, etc.

You need to read the info on it. It is not a normal Chest Strap. It is "Medical grade continuous ECG/EKG
monitor." This is one of the reasons it took so long to come out.
 

newyorkone

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2009
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So it's finally out of vaporware phase. I think this has been rumored for like 3+ years now.

Oh wait expected ship date is April 2017. Maybe I spoke to early.
[doublepost=1483470717][/doublepost]

You need to read the info on it. It is not a normal Chest Strap. It is "Medical grade continuous ECG/EKG
monitor." This is one of the reasons it took so long to come out.

I didn't say it was a normal chest strap. Just that they should have stuck to the look of chest straps that already exist instead of trying to be clever and "cool." I understand what it is, but it's still ugly and looks incredibly uncomfortable. This is what I was commenting on. The look and practicality, not about its medical grade functionality.
 

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040
Fact is. You CANNOT perform a 12 Lead ECG with this so it is definitively non diagnostic. Only after a proper blood enzyme test to eliminate myocardial damage can a true picture be confirmed. But it does look like it does the business and that's good enough for a lot of gullible folks. Cheers!
Even a 12 lead EKG can't rule out a heart attack, but I don't think that's what this is for. Looks like you're in the UK where they probably have hs-troponin I, which our FDA hasn't even approved yet, which is kind of weird/annoying. We do serial troponin I tests here, but not the high sensitivity ones. I'm guessing the point of this is detecting a-fib, like the AliveCor device. For that purpose it's probably very good for people who have a-fib and want to detect it, as the AliveCor is a hand-held spot-check.
 

BruceEBonus

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Sep 23, 2007
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Even a 12 lead EKG can't rule out a heart attack, but I don't think that's what this is for. Looks like you're in the UK where they probably have hs-troponin I, which our FDA hasn't even approved yet, which is kind of weird/annoying. We do serial troponin I tests here, but not the high sensitivity ones. I'm guessing the point of this is detecting a-fib, like the AliveCor device. For that purpose it's probably very good for people who have a-fib and want to detect it, as the AliveCor is a hand-held spot-check.

Thanks. Yes. Imsuppose I just get a bit miffed at companies selling 'nearly products' like this. As you say things must be utilised in context. Even stuff like electronic BP cuffs are a great idea in theory if you're worried about hypertension. However you're blood pressure will go up, even if you're normotensive as a rule, because you'll be so anxious taking your readings every hour on the dot .... Just in case it's gone up or down.

A little knowledge is a bad thing. Best to leave it to the folks who do it every day and save your £££s towards that relaxing holiday instead :)
 
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miknos

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Mar 14, 2008
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Can't they come with a cheap wristband? For that price I'll get an Apple watch.
 
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