FAQ

Frequently asked questions

1. Is ANSWatchMini a medical device?

Yes (for most countries or regions). ANSWatch wrist monitors are designed to meet medical device's requirements (ISO 13485, GMP, EN60601 for electrica lsafety and EMI, etc.). ANSWatch is approved for CE, US FDA, and Taiwan FDA, due to its measurement accuracy and user safety. Regulations do vary in different countries or regions. Please be advised to check you local authorities before making a purchase.



2. What smart phones or tablets are compatible with ANSWatch-Mini?

ANSWatch-Mini is compatible with most iOS and Android smart phones and tablets that are purchased in 2016 or later. Due to the design (both software and hardware) and component complexity, full compatibity for all phones/tablets remain a challenge for device developers including us. Before purchase, we strongly suggest you to confirm the following: (1) check your phone or tablet manufacture/purchase date and it should be 2016 or later (2) go to App Store (for iOS devices) or Google Play (for Android devices), search for and downald the free app for ANSWatch-Mini. Install the app and examine the pages in the app (there is a demo test case with irregular heartbeats). If all pages are working as expected, you are ready to make a purchase.



3. Is ANSWatch-Mini compatible with Windows or Mac OS?

No.



4. How to download the app for ANSWatch-Mini?

Go to App Store (for iOS devices) or Google Play (for Android devices), search for /answatch/ and downald the free app for ANSWatch-Mini.



5. How can I backup test data?

(1) Tap the app for ANSWatch-Mini (2) Find and tap Tools, scroll down, find Google Drive section, and tap Connect. Y ou will be brought to your Google Drive login page. Follow the instruction to log into your account (you msut have a Google Drive account) (3) Once connected, tap Backup to Google Drive (4) When done, log into your Google Drive again and confirm that the entire test data of ANSWatch-mini is now on cloud (5) When necessay (such as switching to a new phone, etc.), you can tap Restore from Google Drive to recover the test data



6. How to show test data on the phone /tablet to my physicians?

To protect the medical data from being misused, great efforts were made during the developemnt phase to ensure data privacy. If you decide to share some pages of your test data with your doctors (at your own risks), simply use Screenshot on yur phone or tablet to save indiviual test data pages . You can then share these picture pages with your doctors. You can also upload your test data to your Google Drive (please set up the connection to your Google account first at /TOOL/ ). On the DATA page of the Mini app, tap and hold a test case, and follow the on-screen instructions to uplload . Once uploaded to your own google Drive, you can then download/transfer the data files to your physicains.



7. Why ANWatch-Mini measures the body temperature?

ANSWatch-Mini measures the wrist temperature with high accuracy. This temperature reading is utilized by the user or clinicians to determine whether or not the test data change is attributed to body temperature change. An example of such situation is body fever caused by comon cold.. Another example is a subject staying in a very cold room during winter times.



8. Do you offer personal health consultation services?

Not at this time. However, programs (free and premium) are being developed for personal health consultation. Consultation work will include: (1) review and confirmation of test operation and data accuracy (2) general review and ranking of test data (3) Type of irregular heartbeats (arrhythmia types) analysis (4) Degree of dysautonomia (imbalance or loss of the autonomic nervous system function) (5) Prescription drug effects (6) Trend analysis (7) Warning message. We will announce the availability of the planned consultation services in our website and by email.



9. To run ANSWatch-Mini app, do I need to open Location service?

For most Android OS devices (phone and tablets), the Locatiion or GPS service must be opened in the setting. The blue-tooth method our apps use is called BLE or Blue-tooth low energy. Android OS requires a precise GPS location to run BLE effectively. For iOS devices (iPhones and iPads), Location service can be either opened or closed. But opening the Location service is recommeneded, regardless of the operating system or device types.



10. Why is it important to monitor irregular heartbeats?

Two major concerns for irregular heartbeats / cardiac arrhythmia (IRRHB): the type of IRRHB and the frequeny of IRRHB. The most commonly observed IRRHB is Ventricular Premature Contraction (VPC or PVC). The most dangerous type of arrhythmia is atrial or ventricular fibfillation (AF or VF), which is life-threatening. There are other types, such as a missing heartbeat, strong-weak pulse alternans, etc. Frequent monitoring is a sure way to check the status of IRRHB and confirm the efficacy of treatment



11. Why I need to monitor my HRV?

Parameters of heart rate variability (HRV) are highly related to the current status of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). ANS is consisted of two major branches: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. ANS's main functions are to maintain the body in a stable state (homeostasis) while supoorting body activities through modulating body organs. For instance, if we go to exercise, the body activates the sympathetic nerve to increase heart rate and heart pumping. On the other hand, when we go to sleep, the body activates the parasympathetic nerve to lower heart rate and heart pumping. When our body enters a stressful, defensive, or para-healthy state, ANS adjusts the body organs to deal with these internal/external challenges. For instance: - If you are under stress and become anxous/nervous, either your sympathetic nerve (LF) turns overly active or your parasympathetic nerve (HF) turns partially withdrawn. Overall, your HRV (related to total activity index of ANS) will go down. - If you are adding too much weight, similar ANS actions will take place as the bove - If you have trouble sleeping, HRV wil go down, so is the activity index for the parasympathetic branch (HF) - If you are diabetic without treatment, all HRV parameters will go down - If you have cardiovascular diseases, all HRV parameters will go down - Many presription drugs will interfere with ANS actions. Hypertension, psychiatric, or psychotic drungs often affect or counter-affect ANS effects. For instance, beta blockers (such as propranolol, used as the first line of treatment for hypertension) will block the sympathetic nerve signals (LF). - If you feel dizzy or fainting during postural change, your ANS or your prescription drugs need to be examined



12. For monitoring irregular heartbeats, is ANSWatch more convenient or accurate than ECG?

ANSWatch is as accurate as a professional 3-lead ECG for monitoring irregular heartbeats (IRRHB). However, in ECG testing, patietns are required to be connected with three electicl pads. For ANSWatch-Mini (or ANSWatch-Full-Size) testing, a patient just wears the Mini on the left wrist (sitting or lying) and press the test button on the phone screen. You ca ndo it at home , in the office, or on the plane. Very convenient. Since the test data is stored, ranked (by AI) and plotted on the phone screen, it is very convinient to show that to our doctors.



13. Since your patient consultation service is not opened yet, can a user ask a test-related question online?

Yes. Please go to /Contact/ and use the question form there to pose your question. Leave your e-mail address. We promise to respond within 48 hours (max. 10 questions per user). Referring to Question #8 regarding our future patient consultation service, we have a consulting team comprised of certified physiciiants and porfessionals who will guide users for personal health imporvemnt based upon our immense proprietary clinical database obtained from ANSWatch tests.



14. Do your apps support other languages than English?

Yes. In addition to English, both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese are suported. Users can go to TOOLS to choose the preferred language.