The KardiaMobile 6L is a medical device produced by AliveCor. It is a compact and portable electrocardiogram (ECG) measuring device designed for individual use by cardiac patients at home as well as for an easy and quick ECG at the clinic by the physicians.
Functionality and Features
It can generate an ECG in just 30 seconds and can easily detect atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and heart block. It has been FDA-cleared for the detection of 6 types of arrhythmias Atrial Fibrillation, Bradycardia, Tachycardia, Premature ventricular contraction (PVC), Wide QRS, Supraventricular Ectopy (SVE): which includes premature atrial contractions (PACs) and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).
How to use Kardiamobile 6L?
First, you need to sit at a comfortable place, take a few breaths for a while to relax, make sure you are not in a hurry and the environment around you is peaceful. Then open the KardiaMobile App and tap on “Record Now”, and then tap on “6 Lead”.
Then gently put your right and left thumbs on the White regions present on the corresponding sides of the device, with the letter A of AliveCor facing you, then place this electrode on your Left Knee or Left Ankle, in a way that the backside of the device is in contact with the skin of your Left Knee or ankle.
Then you will start seeing readings on your mobile app, wait for a while so that the readings get adjusted in a few seconds, after 30-second recording, you will be able to get the results of your ECG.
But why is it called a 6 Lead if it has 3 electrodes?
The KardiaMobile® 6L is marketed as a 6-lead EKG (Leads I, II, III, aVR, aVL, and aVF), although it technically uses three physical leads ( I, II and III) to gather data. The other three leads (aVR, aVL, and aVF) are mathematically derived(augmented-a) from the first three and do not require separate physical electrodes. Just like a traditional ECG has 12 leads although only nine are physical leads and three are augmented leads.
Data Sharing
The data recorded by the KardiaMobile 6L can be shared with cardiologists through the Kardia app. This feature assists in the remote monitoring and diagnosis of heart conditions. It offers secure data flow through the KardiaPro web-based portal.
Clinical Trials
Atrial Fibrillation
KardiaMobile has been reported to have an 89% pooled sensitivity and 99% pooled specificity from a meta-analysis of 14 studies with over 8,000 ECGs, comparing it against the gold standard 12-lead ECG or Holter monitors in detecting atrial fibrillation.
A randomized controlled trial demonstrated nearly a four-fold increase in AFib detection using KardiaMobile as compared to routine care.
QT Interval
This app can measure QT interval with 80.0% Sensitivity and 94.4% Specificity.
Conclusion
The KardiaMobile 6L gives cardiac patients the ability to have better ECG monitoring at home through its six-lead functionality.