Apple caused quite a stir in 2018 when it unveiled electrocardiogram (ECG) on the Apple Watch 4, with some critics pointing out that it wasn't much different from what AliveCor had been doing for years. 

Four years later, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN have not only accepted the role that the Apple Watch ECG app plays in the market, but they've developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that's programmed to interpret single-lead ECG tracings from an Apple Watch to more effectively identify patients who are living with a weak heart pump, or left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

A condition that affects 2% to 3% of people worldwide and up to 9% of people over age 60, left ventricular systolic dysfunction sometimes produces no symptoms. Earlier detection can improve outcomes, says Paul Friedman, MD, chair of the department of cardiovascular medicine at Mayo Clinic. 

“What is important, is that once we know a weak heart pump is present there are many life-saving and symptom-preventing treatments available. It is absolutely remarkable that AI transforms a consumer watch ECG signal into a detector of this condition, which would normally require an expensive, sophisticated imaging test, such as an echocardiogram, CT scan, or MRI."

Read the full story here.