HeartScan HCG-801 ECG Monitor (Omron)
Aljohn Aquino & Antti Luukkonen
Introduction
Cardiovascular Disease is still one of the main causes of death throughout the world. In the United States alone, more than 630,000 people diagnosed with heart disease have died in 2015 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA). In Europe, every year almost 4 million die of cardiovascular disease (European Society of Cardiology). Proper monitoring of cardiac activities like heart rhythms is important in order to have correct diagnosis and later on its proper treatment. Electrocardiograms (ECG) provide good monitoring and recording of heart rhythm. It is used in diagnosing different arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation. We chose this topic because of the importance of cardiac monitoring especially for people diagnosed with cardiac problems. The use of portable ECG in monitoring heart rhythms in the comfort of your home or anywhere else to detect arrhythmias can eventually save lives. Some other benefits of portable ECGs include compactability, ease of use, and low cost.
How does it work?
Portable ECG monitors work in many different ways depending on the manufacturers and their design. Some are single lead or cordless which can measure heart rhythms from just putting the device on top of the chest. Other portable ECG monitors can have many leads that requires connecting to the chest area of the body. This particular device we are interested in is Omron HeartScan HCG-801 ECG monitor. It is a handheld device that allows users to measure heart rhythms and heart rates in just 30 seconds. Heartscan is designed for professional and home use. It can fit in palm of your hand and can be stored in your bag or in the doctor’s coat pockets. Omron’s HeartScan is cordless and easy to use. At the onset of symptoms of cardiac arrest, the user can just easily grab the device, place on top of his or her chest, press the button and wait for 30 seconds for the device to record the heart rhythm. The device has a built in monitor display, which can show the rhythm right away. For medical professionals, portable ECG devices such as HeartScan HCG-801 can supply real time monitoring of abnormal heart rhythms and functions. This can provide the doctors and nurses information to make fast and reliable decisions in diagnosing patient’s heart conditions. For home use, the manufacturer, Omron, provides instructions for patients to use. The United States of America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA. 2007) has approved, with reservations, the sale and use of portable ECG devices for professional and home use
Usage and Safety
Omron HeartScan HCG-801 ECG device is compact, portable and cordless, which gives real time information about heart rate, rhythm and ECG waveform. The device records for 30 seconds and results can be shown in the display. ECG is measured by putting the device on top of the chest, between the right hand and chest. It contains two embedded metal electrodes and weighs 131 grams. HeartScan uses 2 AAA batteries and has battery capacity to measure 400 times. The storage capacity of the device is 5 records with the built-in internal memory and an SD card can be inserted to expand memory. Data can be sent to a computer via SD card.
Future views and prospect
The development of technology in the healthcare field has rapidly increased in the past decades. More and more devices are invented so that people can monitor their health at the comfort of their home and time. Portable ECG monitors such as Omron's HeartScan is one of them and the prospects are high in the future in this particular field because of the large percentage of population around the world having cardiovascular disease. For that reason different medical device company are competing to produce better quality portable ECG monitors than the other. However these devices are without faults. In a study made by Mehta et. al. (2015), four different portable ECG monitors and/or devices were tested and compared to the traditional ECG machine. They concluded that the portable ECGs were disappointing and the results were uninterpretable compared to the normal cardiac monitor strips. However, among all of the portable devices doctors found out that Omron HCG -801 has the best quality of rhythm strips. In the same study done by Mehta et.al (2015), they found out that patients are more keen to use portable ECGs if their doctors or healthcare providers have recommended the use of such devices. Although the sale of portable ECG monitors are targeted for both medical or professional and home use, patients are rather inclined to ask their attending doctors first before buying any medical devices.
References:
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Available at <https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_heart_disease.htm>. Accessed 20 September 2017.
European Society of Cardiology. Available at <https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Fact-sheets/About-Cardiovascular-Disease-in-Europe>. Accessed on 20 September 2017.
Food and Drug Administration, USA. 2007. Available at <https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf6/k061123.pdf>. Accessed 04.10.2017.
Mehta, D., Nazir, N., Trohman, R. & Volgman, A. 2015. Single-lead portable ECG devices: Perceptions and clinical accuracy compared to conventional cardiac monitoring. Journal of Electrocardiology, 48, pp. 710-716.
Omron Healthcare. Heartscan HCG-801 ECG Monitor; Screening and self-monitoring of cardiac events. Available at <https://www.omron-healthcare.com/en/products/electrocardiograph>. Accessed 20 September 2017.
Omron Healthcare. Omron Instruction Manual; Portable ECG Monitor. Available at <https://omronhealthcare.com/wp-content/uploads/portable-ecg-monitor-instruction-manual.pdf> <http://www.quickmedical.com/downloads/omron-omron-hcg-801-portable-ecg-monitor.pdf>. Accessed 20 September 2017.