Heart for Heart | Uses the sensors on your phone to measure heart health and help the world learn more.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Just by measuring your heart rhythm, you can be part of the worlds largest heart health initiative.
Situation
• There are 2-3 million AFib patients in the US alone
• There is another estimated 1 million patients that are undiagnosed
• AFib is the second leading cause of stroke
• 250K sudden deaths in the US
• 800-850K hospitalization annually in the US
Goals
• The world’s largest heart health initiative
• Focus is on using the power of crowdsourcing to gain a million heart measurements
• Better understand the characteristics of the participants
THE APP
The Heart for Heart App is a simple tool to monitor heart health. Place your finger on the camera lens of your phone while holding still during the measurement.
1 Keep your hand on a steady surface
2 Keep your finger still and press gently on the camera lens partly covering the flash
3 Please do not talk during the measurement
4 Press the Start Button
5 The App takes about 10-15 seconds to calibrate before starting the measurement
6 A one minute measurement is performed
All data will be aggregated
THE TECHNOLOGY
The app is based on technology called PhotoPlethysmoGraphy (PPG) that measures light reflected in the blood.
• Blood absorbs light and each pulse increases the blood flow in body and finger tips
• You can therefore keep track of changes in the heart rate by measuring the changes in light absorption
• The method is similar to the one used in a pulse oximeter and many wearable fitness trackers. In those cases, instead of LED light, infrared is used
• It is possible to distinguish the difference between a regular heart beat and irregular heart beat
• You can see the Photoplethysmograph below. The up and down peaks represent the changes in the blood flow (light absorption) over time. You can clearly see when pulses occur
THE DATA
Results will be anonymized, compiled and visualized to show how crowdsourced data can help inform the world on heart health patterns
• Age, Gender, Country, etc
• Weight
• Known Conditions
• Smoking
• Lifestyle (active etc)