A shopping cart contains a carrot leaf and one of its wheels is broken, but it can do a lot more for people than searching through things, as a recent experiment in the UK showed, Watchman.
Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University have transformed the shopping trolleys of four Sainsbury’s stores into mobile ECG machines using a special sensor-equipped handle.
The purpose of the campaign was to screen for atrial fibrillation. All customers had to do was put their hand on the handle for at least one minute to check their heartbeat. A red light is illuminated on the vehicle if a risk of atrial fibrillation is detected, and a green light if a customer’s heart health is detected.
At the time of the trial, ECGs were taken from 2,155 adults over a three-month period, 220 of whom provided their data and consented to the study. 59 patients were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation – of whom 39 were unaware of the disease and were therefore told they should see a cardiologist.
Study author Professor Ian Jones, who presented the findings at the European Society of Cardiology conference, said he wanted to challenge the notion that some communities are hard to reach.
My answer is that it is not difficult to reach them, it is difficult to reach us. With this approach, we are within reach and more likely to learn about health problems
Jones pointed out.
Of course, the cart scaling wasn’t perfect, 20 percent of the ECGs didn’t give usable results, either because the patient’s hand moved or for some other reason. The method identified atrial fibrillation in 70-93 percent, but it didn’t screen healthy people as well: Only a quarter of those diagnosed with atrial fibrillation were diagnosed with the disease.
The initiative has received some professional criticism for unnecessarily burdening the health sector, but others thought it was an excellent idea and drew attention to the fact that heart rate-monitoring wearables are not for everyone, compared to the handle of a shopping cart.
