OMRON Healthcare, has launched OMRON Complete its first single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood pressure monitor for home use.
Designed for detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib) -the most frequently encountered arrhythmia in clinically practice, OMRON Complete incorporates clinically validated ECG technology that can be used simultaneously with the usual BP check, which could potentially decrease consultation time and unnecessary appointments, in a context of rampant demand for healthcare services.
Because high blood pressure has been confirmed by the medical guidelines as a risk factor in nearly 60% of the AFib cases, leading medical guidelines explicitly recommend opportunistic AFib screening in hypertensive patients and systematic screening of all individuals over the age of 75. This evidence proves that widespread adoption of home blood pressure monitoring technology enhanced with ECG capabilities would enable people and clinicians alike to detect the presence of AFib and to keep this risk factor for stroke under control once a proper diagnosis has been conducted.
“We developed Complete to make identifying a leading cause of strokes more accessible and routine,” said Lucía Prada, Marketing Director of OMRON Healthcare Europe. “AFib can show no symptoms and may not be present during doctors’ visits because the episodes come and go, which means it’s often left undiagnosed. That is why we saw the need to get ECGs into the home, where regular readings can be taken by at-risk patients and shared with GPs to increase these odds alongside their usual blood pressure readings, without any additional inconvenience.”
“It’s all about building a more complete picture of cardiovascular health,” mentioned André van Gils, Global Senior General Manager at OMRON Healthcare. “In providing practitioners with far more comprehensive data sets for chronic diseases such as AFib and hypertension, managing and preventing serious incidents becomes a lot more achievable. Technology like this has the power to save lives while enabling practitioners to deliver more personalised care and represents a concrete step forward in our zero cardiovascular events vision”.
The technology behind OMRON Complete
OMRON Complete comprises an arm cuff and a blood pressure monitoring unit equipped with a smartphone docking station, 2 top electrodes and 2 side electrodes used to place the thumbs and fingers for taking the ECG readings. After pairing the OMRON connect app to the device and opening the app, the blood pressure and ECG readings (>30 sec) will be displayed on the smartphone screen, including a clear message of whether AFib is detected or not along with further, more detailed information. This data is automatically recorded and can be shared with GPs to provide comprehensive records of ECG and BP readings. This helps users better manage their condition, check efficacy of treatment, and continue important care conversations after in-clinic visits.
Detecting Atrial Fibrillation and Preventing Stroke
AFib is the leading cause of stroke, contributing to 20%-30% of all strokes. Furthermore, strokes from this condition are more disabling and more often fatal than strokes with other causes. Consequences of strokes can severely compromise the survivor’s ability to live their life at the fullest, as a stroke happens in the brain, the control centre for who we are and what we can do.
While AFib can present no subjective symptoms in many cases, those commonly associated with the condition include palpitations (being aware of your heart beating fast), breathlessness, chest pain and fatigue.
In 2019 the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) called for urgent action to prevent, detect and treat AFib, estimating that over 7.6 million people over 65 had AFib in the EU (including UK) in 2016, with prevalence rates set to rise up to 9.5% by 2060.