Smartwatches and ECG patches have burst onto the scene as the future of cardiology continues to take new turns. Providing means to decentralize and make arrhythmia detection remote, these technologies are fast catching on across healthcare establishments, both big and small alike. However, what exactly do they bring to the table as far as arrhythmia detection is concerned? Well, that’s what we sought to find out as we determine just how these wearables are creating a new age of advanced arrhythmia diagnosis and management.
ECG patches make 24/7 heart surveillance a seamless reality
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to arrhythmia detection is maintaining monitoring continuity. With traditional solutions like Holter monitors and cardiac event records, for example, the success rate of picking out arrhythmias in patients with infrequent symptoms is quite low. This is largely because these episodes may occur outside of the limited monitoring window, with some arrhythmia symptoms even occurring in bursts of weeks.
ECG patches and smartwatches such as Cardiac Rhythm’s Faros 180 biosensor, for example, can provide monitoring for extended durations. They allow the physician to track a patient’s heart vitals around the clock from any location, hence getting around the ineffectiveness of exclusively in-person ECG testing which can result in missed arrhythmia episodes.
Patients using these wearables can have their cardiac data transmitted wirelessly and in real-time. This ensures that the technicians have the information that they need to perform round-the-clock monitoring.
Offering diagnostic assistance to improve ECG scoring
Crucially, advanced smart watches and ECG patches are also beginning to tap into novel algorithms that help to improve arrhythmia detection accuracy. Paired with platforms that contain intelligent arrhythmia classification engines, these devices augment human expertise with an added touch of technological finesse.
Overall, these wearables are helping to correct traditional errors such as poor R-wave sensing. In so doing, they are also able to reduce instances of false detections when it comes to arrhythmias such as:
- Tachycardia
- Bradycardia
- Atrial fibrillation
- Pause and so on
Even more importantly, they’re giving ECG technicians a consistent, always-on stream of data, which further helps physicians arrive at arrhythmia diagnoses more accurately and much faster.
Enabling arrhythmia tracking for stroke prevention
Many arrhythmias don’t need treatment as they are harmless. A few others, on the other hand, require early detection to negate serious health consequences later on. Smartwatches and ECG patches are pivotal in helping to determine what arrhythmias fall into which category, thereby helping to track the frequency of certain episodes, among other data.
In particular, these devices can be especially useful for tracking atrial fibrillation, better known as AFib, and providing intricate details about the event via an EKG. By measuring blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and other information, this can help to foresee adverse events that arise from AFib such as stroke.
With research indicating that up to 1 in 5 stroke cases in America are a direct result of this type of arrhythmia, these technologies present critically life-saving benefits to patients living with AFib or suspected of having it.
Asymptomatic arrhythmia tracking made possible
Some arrhythmias can occur without any visible symptoms, and these are known as asymptomatic arrhythmias. Consumer devices like smartwatches and ECG patches can detect vital thresholds that the patient may not feel and correlate this to an arrhythmia.
In fact, some of these wearables have in-built arrhythmia alters for false-positive and true-positive episodes and bring this to the attention of the patient and physician with great diagnostic specificity. As a result, patients with these types of arrhythmias can enjoy:
- Early diagnosis and treatment
- Fewer hospitalizations and other adverse events
- Lower costs of cardiac care
Going a step further by tracking physical activity
Some types of arrhythmia can be fitness-related. In other words, exercise or certain strenuous physical activity can trigger the arrhythmia or even amplify its symptoms and cause great discomfort to the patient.
In fact, research by the NHS has shown that even subtle changes in your posture can instigate a heart arrhythmia. By helping to track the wearer’s physical activities, certain smartwatches can help physicians correlate arrhythmia triggers to certain behavioral patterns such as a particular exercise or physical activity.
In so doing, these technologies can help inform the type of exercises or activities that aggravate your arrhythmia, thereby giving your caregiver critical information on creating more suitable fitness plans.
A smart biosensor might just save your life
When smartwatches first soared to popularity, many largely viewed them as a gimmicky fitness solution. All that has changed over the past couple of years as ECG patches and smart biosensors are making huge strides in cardiac care. From enabling arrhythmia detection continuity that eases collaboration to improving diagnostic accuracy as well as access for marginalized groups, these wearables might be small, but they are transforming arrhythmia detection and heart care at large in many big ways. Visit the Cardiac Rhythm website to learn more.
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