MCRI launches new study regarding the Apple Watch’s ECG app for children in cancer therapy

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia is launching a study to validate Apple Watch’s ECG application in children during and after cancer therapy, according to MyHealthyApple.

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) is the largest child health research institute in Australia and the top three child health research institutes worldwide for research quality and impact. The prospective study in pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients aged 7 to 18 years is designed to validate the use of the Apple Watch’s electrocardiogram (ECG) function in measuring QT prolongation during and or after cancer therapy, according to MyHealthyApple.

MCRI’s work follows a somewhat similar study by Mayo Clinic. Last month it was reported that researchers worked with Mayo Clinic’s Center for Digital Health to develop asmartphone app that study participants used to send single lead ECGs from their Apple Watch. 

A total of 2,454 Mayo Clinic patients with an iPhone, the Mayo Clinic App and a series 4 or later Apple Watch took part in the study. The app securely sent all previous watch ECGs and additional ones as they were recorded by patients to a Mayo secure data platform. 

Single-lead ECG tracings from an Apple Watch interpreted by an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm effectively identified patients with a weak heart pump, according to Mayo Clinic.