One of the things that patients find most frustrating is the difficulty in capturing an ECG recording of their symptoms. This electrical recording of the heart allows your doctors to give a very accurate idea of whether a rhythm problem is causing your symptoms and if so, what the problem is. There is a catch though, you have to be having the symptoms when the ECG is recorded. This can be difficult if you are not getting symptoms every day because even a continuous 7-day ECG recorder (7-day Holter) will not work if you don’t have symptoms when it is connected.

Help is at hand however because innovation has now allowed you to record your own ECG rather than relying on a clinic to do it for you.

OPTION 1

Got a smartphone?  Then it is likely that it is compatible with an Alive Cor ECG plate https://www.alivecor.com/en/. This will fit to the back of your phone and an app effectively turns your own phone into an ECG machine. This is a very convenient option for patients because they usually always have their phones with them so if they have symptoms it is likely they will have the means to record their ECG. The ECG records for 30 seconds but it is clearly the case that this will only work if you have your symptoms long enough to get the alive cor out and turn it on. The ECG can then be emailed to a clinician from your phone.

At London AF centre we can sell you an Alive Cor and even include 5 ECGs report by us. For us to be able to report your ECG it is important that you use the Alive Cor properly and hold the phone/plate very still so that a good quality recording is made. We’ll also talk you through how to use it. Call us for details: Helen Kitchener 0207 234 2641 or complete the below form.

OPTION 2

If you don’t have a mobile phone then other hand held ECG machines are available. These mean you need to carry it around with you. The ECGs can be sent to a clinician but needs to be downloaded  to a computer via a USB cable so you need to be a little tech savvy to do this. The one we think is best value is the here.

Unfortunately we are not able to support this but if you email us an ECG we can tell you what it shows but please note that it needs to be a reasonable quality and do check with us before you send them what the reporting costs are.