Portable and Wireless EKG patch as Effective as Traditional Stationary Device

Each year, over 300 million electrocardiograms (EKGs) are performed worldwide, with a third of them performed in the United States. Despite their widespread use, the technology behind EKGs has remained largely unchanged for decades. Now, a study has demonstrated that a newly developed wireless EKG patch is just as accurate, if not more so, than traditional EKG machines.

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (Cincinnati, OH, USA) tested the EKG Patch Solution, a device developed by MG Medical Products (Cincinnati, OH, USA). This innovative patch features an all-in-one design with built-in lead wires and pre-positioned electrodes, simplifying the process of attaching it to the chest and reducing the risk of electrode misplacement. This design helps ensure more accurate readings of the heart’s electrical activity. The EKG Patch Solution was tested in a prospective, single-blind study involving 200 heart patients, comparing it to the standard 12-lead EKG procedure.

The study found that errors affecting the interpretability of the EKG occurred in 6.5% of Patch EKG procedures and 15% of traditional EKG procedures. These errors were mainly attributed to patient movement, according to the findings published in Clinical Research in Cardiology. When asked about their preferences, 47% of participants favored the Patch EKG, while 52% had no preference between it and the standard method. The wireless Patch EKG has the potential to revolutionize how EKGs are conducted, offering particular benefits for skilled nursing, behavioral health, and correctional facilities. Its ability to quickly assess acute cardiac symptoms could help reduce hospital readmission rates for individuals in these settings.

“It’s five pounds, you don’t have to wheel the machine in, you don’t have to untangle wires, you don’t have to get people dirty,” said Jeff McGrath, president of MG Medical Products. “You don’t have to have a technical skill to acquire this. People take classes for months to learn how to operate a traditional EKG. You take a class for 20 minutes with this new product to learn how to do an EKG.”

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