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Review
. 2019 Nov 25;21(12):158.
doi: 10.1007/s11886-019-1223-8.

Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve: the Future of Cardiac Rhythm Monitoring

Mostafa A Al-Alusi  1 , Eric Ding  2 , David D McManus  3 , Steven A Lubitz  4
Affiliations
Review

Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve: the Future of Cardiac Rhythm Monitoring

Mostafa A Al-Alusi et al. Curr Cardiol Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review describes the novel category of wearable ECG monitors and identifies where patients, healthcare providers, and device manufacturers should focus efforts to maximize the clinical benefit of these devices.

Recent findings: Notable wearable ECG monitors include the AliveCor Kardia devices, Apple Watch Series 4, and several others. The most common use case is monitoring for atrial fibrillation. The available evidence validates the ability of the Kardia devices and Apple Watch to distinguish atrial fibrillation from sinus rhythm. Key questions for manufacturers include how to calibrate each device's algorithms and streamline workflows for healthcare providers. Wearable ECG monitors are currently most useful to detect atrial fibrillation. Further study is needed to demonstrate whether wearable ECG monitors improve patient outcomes, and to expand their use into other indications. Device manufacturers and healthcare providers must work together to establish new workflows to process and act on wearable ECG data.

Keywords: AliveCor; Apple Watch; Atrial fibrillation; Electrocardiogram; Stroke; Wearables.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Mostafa A. Al-Alusi and Eric Ding declare that they have no conflict of interest.

David McManus has received research support from Apple Computer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringher-Ingelheim, Flexcon, Fitbit Heart Rhythm Society, Pfizer, Samsung, Philips Healthcare, Biotronik, and has received consultancy fees or honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Flexcon, Boston Biomedical Associates, Samsung, and Rose Consulting.

Steven A. Lubitz receives sponsored research support from Bristol Myers Squibb / Pfizer, Bayer AG, and Boehringer Ingelheim, and has consulted for Bristol Myers Squibb / Pfizer and Bayer AG.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A framework describing the steps by which wearable ECG monitors can improve patient outcomes, and associated key questions
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. QardioCore [Internet]. GetQardio; [cited 2019 May 2]. Available from: https://www.getqardio.com/qardiocore-wearable-ecg-ekg-monitor-iphone/.

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