HOW TO NOT SKIP A BEAT

WITH ITS WATCH’S ECG FEATURE, APPLE IS BLAZING A NEW TRAIL IN HEALTHCARE

- A. SELWAY RYAN

If you’ve ever had occasion to receive an electrocardiogram (an ECG, also alliteratively called an EKG by doctors of both the real and primetime variety), you’ll know that the first step is going full McConaughey: shirt off with strangers. They’ll then place the sensors on your bare skin, suction cups spread across your chest like the refrigerator door. Even though it’s often a straightforward measure, it feels like what you’d do in an emergency—as though you’re one step away from the paddles.

They do this because there’s an electrical field generated across your chest from the action of your heart. Taking your pulse at the wrist, or anywhere else, won’t pick up on the signaling they’re looking to chart in a wave graph of cardiac activity. Your doctor can interpret this graph to give a diagnosis of irregularities like arterial fibrillation, which are harbingers that can warrant treatment in advance of more serious events.

HEART START

When the Apple Watch launched five years ago, it could measure your heartbeat. Optical sensors at its base could sense the pulse at your wrist. The emphasis was on the workout experience: It could let you know when you were in the optimal zone for cardiovascular exercise. It could also give you notifications if it sensed an abnormally high (or low) heartbeat.