By applying machine learning to heart data, the digital health company and the nonprofit medical practice and research group hope to uncover new health indicators.

Qmed Staff

AliveCor makes the Kardia mobile ECG device.                             

Digital health company AliveCor and Rochester, MN-based Mayo Clinic are teaming up to glean new insights from data captured with AliveCor's mobile ECG device. 

Together, the Mountain View, CA-based company and Mayo will apply AliveCor's machine learning technology to 10 million ECG recordings taken by users of the company's Kardia product, an FDA-cleared mobile device that pairs with smartphones to measure electrical activity in the heart. The goal is to "uncover hidden physiological signals to improve heart and overall human health," according to a press release.

In particular, the findings could lead to insights about the relationship between cardiac arrhythmias and changes in blood potassium levels, which can indicate kidney failure.

"Working with Mayo Clinic, we are hopeful that soon physicians will be turning to ECG data for the care of many types of patients, not just those with typical cardiovascular issues," Dave Albert, MD, AliveCor's chief medical officer, said in the press release.

Mayo, a nonprofit medical practice and medical research group that employs more than 4,500 physicians and scientists, has been on a medtech partnering spree in 2016. Earlier this year, it announced collaborations with GE Ventures to launch Vitruvian Networks, an independent startup that is seeking to speed cell and gene therapies to market with the help of the Internet of Things. It's also continuing a three-year-old relationship with Boston Scientific that has brought physicians and engineers together together to develop new technologies. 

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[image courtesy of ALIVECOR]