Alivecor EKG upside down?

I just got the Alivecor sensor (shipped from England), downloaded the app, and tried it on my iPhone 5s.
It's recording the EKG's upside down! Hmm, maybe I have a wierder problem than afib...

I tried it on my wife, and got the same results - an upside down EKG for her as well.

Of course, I can hold the phone/app "upside down" (with the Home button on the left) while recording, and that makes the EKG's appear right-side up. But... the Alivecor app explicitly says to hold to it with the Home button on the right. I'm amazed such an obvious bug got through their QA team.

(This is with the latest version of their app, version 2.2.2).

Could it be I'm missing something - perhaps on July 25, 2015 the medical world decided... to invert the way they do EKG's? I'm used to the normal style of EKG where the peak of the R wave is in the positive direction.

Your thoughts?
-Ted

Ted,

As I have an Otterbox rugged case for my iPhone, when I got my AliveCor (18 months ago? - 2nd generation), I popped it out of the phone case it came it and use it separate from the iPhone. On my version, you can take the device out of its case and reverse it. Perhaps you can try this.

What is recorded is a function of which side of the body is on which lead of the AliveCor.

George

I was getting some inverted waves on some AliveCor readings until I read the directions more thoroughly. With my iPhone the bottom of the phone should be in your right hand. if this is reversed it inverts some of the display. Hope this helps.

Tap the screen under the waveform on the right and a little option box will appear allowing you to invert the waveform.

Also you can also select the "enhanced filter' to reduce the noise a bit to get a cleaner look at the waveform as well. Don't squeeze the device between your thumb and fingers either as that will increase noise interference as well. And make sure your finger tips in contact with the two metallic sensors are moisted. then rest your elbow von a table or on your thighs or whatever to keep your arms stable and relaxed .. breath easily and quietly ... for best results.

Shannon

BillMn: I'm actually already holding the iPhone in the orientation you describe.

Shannon: I'm actually already holding my hands and elbows as you describe.

Additional info: at first I thought my recordings were just poor quality (for whatever reason). But once I flipped the phone upside down in my hands (recording them "upside down" ), or flip the results via the options menu as Shannon describes, the recorded EKG perfectly matches the standard NSR EKG example from the wiki page. Same with my wife. I suppose it could be that both my wife and I are aliens (have inverted EKG's), but I think that would've shown up on one of my 20+ professional 12-lead EKG's I've had over the past two years. So at this point I think it's a software bug in Alivecore.

Apache - what Shannon is saying is that after you take a reading, you'll see the printout on your screen. If you tap on the screen, an icon will appear that says "invert" with an up and down arrow. Touch that, and voila! Your upside down reading will be right side up!

Barb

Hi Barb. I understood what Shannon was saying. But that step shouldn't be necessary. Why is Alivecor recording upside down in the first place? This seems like a fundamental bug. It's not like my heart (or it's electrical system) is (physically) inverted.

-Ted

Ted,

For some reason, your leads are physically reversed. As I previously noted, I can reverse my leads in my case. Not sure about your model or how your case connects to your phone. Are you sure you didn't attach it upside down? See P1 <[alivecorcms.s3.amazonaws.com]

George

Thanks George! I somehow missed your early reply, which contained the answer (pop the physical electrode out of the plastic case back, and reverse it). I'm now getting upright EKG's

Always use the stand alone ALIVE COR out of its thin case Ted, its helps get cleaner readings and you can easily reverse the leads as George mentioned,

Shannon

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lways use the stand alone ALIVE COR out of its thin case Ted, its helps get cleaner readings

Very interesting, Shannon. I'll try that.
Although I'm actually quite pleased with the crispness of the readings I'm getting in the current configuration (EKG sensor in the phone case, attached to the back of iphone).

Cheers,
-Ted