The challenge with Holter monitors is that they can be cumbersome and delay important treatment. Typically, it is used anywhere from 48 hours to a week or more. The device collects data recorded from the ECG continuously for a given time. There are EKG leads that attach to the chest. The patient usually wears it via a strap around the neck or an elastic band around the waist. These battery-operated devices are about the size of a postcard. Once a physician is alerted to a potential cardiac rhythm issue, they often prefer to monitor with an approved medical device such as a traditional Holter monitoring device.
Related: How to Mitigate the Risks of Remote patient monitoring.Īdditionally, heart rhythm issues happen sporadically, and most people do not wear their devices all day, every day. These include requiring removal at night for recharging and generally recording only a single-lead (one connection) electrocardiogram (ECG). Wearable devices have certain inherent limitations when it comes to making a clinical diagnosis. The increased popularity and sophistication of wearable devices means these products are a good first step in identifying an arrhythmia or anomaly that might have gone undetected before. Wearable devices play an important role in improving fitness and alerting users to potential health issues, such as irregular heartbeats. Since irregularities in a person’s heart rhythm can come and go unpredictably, remote monitoring plays an important role in diagnosis and determining a treatment path for these individuals.
So, the physician may order a traditional Holter monitor or a remote rhythm monitoring device that is implanted just under the skin to help confirm the underlying problem. People often notice they have a heart rhythm issue either through their wearable device or because of symptoms, resulting in a trip to their physician.īut the chance of capturing the problem in the physician’s office is relatively low. As many as 6.1 million people in the United States alone are affected by AFib. Since people are living longer, there has been a surge in the world’s aging population that has contributed to the rise of AFib around the globe.
This condition is the most common abnormal heart rhythm seen in clinical practice. Some arrhythmias are specifically associated with an increased risk of stroke, such as atrial fibrillation, or AFib, a condition in which the upper chambers of the heart beat very rapidly and erratically, and quiver or “fibrillate.” Other times people simply feel heart palpitations or dizziness. In some cases, it is associated with and/or causes symptoms such as fainting, passing out or feeling short of breath. Sometimes it’s slow and sometimes it’s fast.
What Skipped, Slow, or Rapid Heart Beats May MeanĪ “cardiac arrhythmia” is an abnormal heart rhythm that typically develops when disease or injury disrupts the heart’s electrical signals, causing the heart to beat erratically. Let me preface the rest of my remarks by saying that when people detect skipped beats, rapid heart rates, slow heart rates, or other potential heart issues using their wearables, they should see a physician to learn what is causing their problem and whether it needs to be treated. In fact, the research firm CCS Insight reports that global sales of smart wearable devices are predicted to double between 20 to 233 million units. Walkers, runners, cyclists, swimmers, and people who simply want to track or improve their level of fitness increasingly use wearable devices, including those that monitor heart rhythm. The devices can connect to the internet for data reporting. Many contain smart sensors that can record both heart rate and rhythm. Wearable heart rhythm monitoring devices are typically worn on the wrist or on a chest strap. There’s an old saying: “I didn’t skip a beat.” But sometimes, we do.Īs more and more people are using commercially available wearable rhythm monitoring devices to track their health, many discover that they sometimes have an irregular, slow or very fast heart rate.