A REVOLUTIONARY and potentially life-saving heart monitor will soon be distributed to NHS clinics across Oxfordshire.

The KardiaMobile device is about the size of a credit card, and has been designed to be used with smart phones to easily and quickly detect atrial fibrillation (AF) – a common contributing factor in strokes.

With more than 17,000 people in Oxfordshire thought to be living with AF, professor Gary Ford, stroke physician at the John Radcliffe Hospital, said there was no doubt the roll out of the device would save lives.

Prof Ford, who is also leading the KardiaMobile national rollout from the region’s Academic Health Science Networks (AHSN) HQ at Oxford Science Park, said: “More than 420,000 people throughout England are unaware they have irregular heartbeats and of the dangers that this can pose to their health.

“We have highly effective treatments that can prevent these strokes, but early detection is key.

“Using cost-effective technology, the NHS will now be able to identify people with irregular heartbeats quickly and easily.

"This will save lives.”

Prof Ford added that by reducing costs needed to achieve an AF diagnosis, the high-tech device could save the NHS potentially billions in the long term.

Connected to a smartphone or tablet, the device is able to record the electrical activity of the heart through a person’s fingertips.

The associated app delivers an accurate electrocardiogram (ECG) reading to the phone or tablet in less than 30 seconds and will indicate whether a person has possible AF.

The app allows heart rhythm recordings to be viewed, saved and shared with doctors, nurses and even pharmacists, allowing for faster detection and diagnosis of AF.

Eighty of the gadgets will initially be distributed to Oxfordshire CCG to then be used at selected GP practices and health clinics in the coming weeks.

Discussions on exactly how Kardiamobile will be used by health professionals (whether patients will be able to take it home and use it as a bed side heart monitor for instance) are still ongoing.

CCG figures estimate that about 4,000 people in Oxfordshire have AF but are undiagnosed.

The condition contributed to 325 strokes across the county last year.

The KardiaMobile technology was developed by AliveCor, and is now being rolled out nationally as part of an NHS England-funded project, via the country’s AHSNs.

It is hoped it will prevent more than 3,000 strokes nationwide.