<br>Fitbit follows the lead of Apple Watch with stroke prevention technology

AFib monitoring for lower cost with longer battery life.

The predecessors of today's best fitness trackers and smartwatches may have been little more than little sirens and step-tracking novelties, but we've always known that they have the potential to save lives and help us identify serious problems before they become irreparable. Last month, Google highlighted its work with machine learning algorithms to advance healthcare, and now the US Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to roll out a new algorithm for Fitbit devices that will be more effective in identifying people with atrial fibrillation (AFib), one of the key signs of heart failure. That the person is at risk of having a stroke.

This isn't Fitbit's first success story in combating arrhythmias. In 2020, regulatory clearance was granted to a Fitbit app that can be used for spot checks. Users can start the test and sit still for about 30 seconds while the built-in PPG (photodynamic) heart rate sensor takes measurements and gives a reading.

The new algorithm goes a step further by automating the test procedure for taking regular measurements while you sleep or rest. By increasing the regularity of testing and expanding to different hours during the day, the odds of detecting occasional AFib episodes increase dramatically.

PPG works by measuring the size of the blood vessels in your body. Each heartbeat causes the blood vessels to expand and contract as blood is pushed through the body. By tracing the irregularities in this pattern, it is possible to identify signs of atrial fibrillation.

In a five-month study of 455,699 participants over the course of 2020, Fitbit found that it was able to successfully identify AFib 98% of the time, and was 100% accurate in identifying participants with normal sinus rhythm.

Fitbit is preparing to launch a new feature called irregular heartbeat notifications based on its own algorithm. This would be useful to alert the wearer of potential problems, which when used in conjunction with an existing ECG app for real-time scans and trace logging, could give healthcare professionals more data they can use to reach early diagnosis.

The arrhythmia notification feature will only be available in the US until regulatory approval is also granted in the European Union and other countries. The Fitbit blog only specified that the feature would be available on "a range of heart rate-enabled devices," but didn't say if it would only be available on existing devices or new models. However, the ECG app is made available primarily for all compatible devices, and this monitoring feature will likely work on all the same devices. Once that is rolled out, it will be compatible with the AFib monitoring capabilities currently available on later models of the Apple Watch.

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Cody Tombs (1,460 articles published)

Kodi makes programs, writes words, pictures things, raises bottles, and does some weird assortment of other unrelated things. If he's been away from the computer for any length of time, he might be talking about movies, concocting drink recipes, giving unprepared speeches at weddings, or doing a little something for the world.

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