Gadget review: Monitor your heart at home

Heart rate

AliveCor's Kardia Mobile 6L is a personal medical device that can record your EKG in a few seconds. The device can easily tell you if your heart is normal or if arterial fibrillation is detected. All you have to do is touch it. The device has three metal leads and these are to be used to check your EKG. You start by installing the application on your phone. Once installed, you have to pair the phone by touching the device to the phone. I am not sure how exactly that works, but it is one of the simplest pairings I have experienced.

With the 6L version, you can take two types of readings, the first one is a single-lead reading. The single-lead reading is less accurate than the six-lead one. To take the reading you have to select record your EKG on the app and then place one finger on each of the two metal leads on the top. The device will then record your beats per minute and see if your heartbeat is irregular. For the six-lead version, you have to again go through the same process, just select 6L instead of Single. Then, place your fingers on the device and place the back of the device to your knee or ankle. Once recorded, the EKG can be saved as a PDF and sent to your physician.

The device has been approved by the FDA in the US. However, the manufacturer does mention in the app, that it doesn't check for heart attack, recommending you go to the emergency if you suspect something is off.

The Kardia 6L is a very cool looking device and it does everything it is supposed to. However, I don't see its use beyond medical scenarios where a doctor might want to remotely monitor a patient's heart. For that purpose, the Rs 14,000 cost seems to be entirely justified. The Kardia app also has a care package that charges $99 for a year, offering monthly heart reports, medication tracking and automatic ECG sharing.