Apple Watch Detects Heart Problems with Incredible 97% Accuracy

The Apple Watch is 97% accurate in detecting the most common abnormal heart rhythm, according to the findings of a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, whose goal was to determine if the wearable could one day aid in stroke prevention. The UCSF Health eHeart study, which was conducted in large part via the Cardiogram app for iOS, examined 6,158 participants -- all of whom had normal echocardiogram (EKG) readings, with the exception of 200 individuals who had previously been diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. By implementing a self-developed, AI-based algorithm, researchers and biomedical engineers were then able to train a deep neural network to identify these abnormal heart rhythms utilizing data collected via the Apple Watch's heart rate monitor. While the overall eHeart study is more far-reaching, and examines a number of variables including heart rate, blood pressure, behavior, diet, genetics and more, the inherent portion of the Cardiogram-based inquiry was initiated back in 2016, with the primary intent of discovering whether or not the Apple Watch could detect an oncoming stroke. According to Cardiogram's co-founder and leading data scientist, Brandon Ballinger, approximately 25% of all strokes are caused by an abnormal heart rhythm such as the more commonly occurring abnormality, Atrial Fibrillation.