6 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | FERUARY 2024
Heartbeat-Tracking Technology Raises Patients ’ and
Doctors ’ Worries
BY DARIUS TAHIR
If someone ’ s heart skips a beat , tech companies want to let them know about it .
Gadget firms — starting with Apple and now Fitbit , which is owned by Google — are selling wearable devices that check heartbeat rhythms and alert users when something is out of sync .
These products involve some feats of technology . Many use sophisticated optical sensors that peer beneath the skin to monitor how blood volume changes — almost like tracking the tides — and thereby tally heartbeats . Other devices have a miniature electrocardiogram — which records the heart ’ s electrical activity — embedded . Either method can detect irregular heartbeats — and potentially atrial fibrillation , a condition that affects an estimated 2.7 million Americans and drives up the risk of stroke and heart failure . When a person has it , the beating in the heart ’ s upper chambers is erratic , and blood doesn ’ t flow as well as it should to the heart ’ s lower chambers .
Still , although the gadgets are a technical achievement , some cardiologists say the information the devices produce isn ’ t always useful . Notifications from the devices aren ’ t definitive diagnoses .
It ’ s a conundrum , and a consequential one , for the health care system . Tens of millions of people are armed with these devices , and if even a small fraction of those get a ping , it could mean much more care and costs for the system .
“ The technology has outpaced us ,” said Rod Passman , a cardiologist at Northwestern University who ’ s assisting with a study examining the Apple Watch ’ s ability to screen for the heart rhythm condition . “ Industry came out with these things because they could . Now we ’ re playing catch-up and trying to figure out what to do with this information .”
Heart rhythm sensors are among many tools packed into these wearables . Users can have their steps counted , their sleep tracked , and their gaits analyzed . Some products will call 911 if the wearer has been in a car crash or had a bad fall .
Those features are meant to make patients the protagonists in maintaining their health . During an event touting Fitbit ’ s atrial fibrillation function , company co-founder James Park said it was one of several features of the brand ’ s fitness-tracking bands that are “ making users effortlessly in control of health and wellness .”
The wearable ’ s atrial fibrillation ping — a “ test [ doctors ] didn ’ t order ,” Passman said — tells patients there ’ s something potentially irregular . Ultimately , though , any treatment is left to the doctor .
The initial visits don ’ t always provide quick answers . To corroborate a notification , a cardiologist outfits patients with medical-grade diagnostics — a patch or bulky monitor — that are more accurate than wearables . ( The Apple Watch , for example , is cleared by the FDA for “ informational use only .”) That fancier device may have to operate for a while to catch a momentary missed beat . That waiting means more time and money , spent on more visits to the doctor .
Getting a diagnosis “ can be quite the odyssey ,” said Ethan Weiss , a cardiologist at the University of California- San Francisco . Patients can become anxious along the way . Social media forums like Reddit show that many users wonder whether their watches or their doctors are more reliable . “ It is still freaking me out ,” one user wrote , even after a doctor told him he was likely fine .
“ There ’ s going to be a period of uncertainty ,” acknowledged Tony Faranesh , a research scientist at Fitbit . He said the company provides educational material to users warned of a potential arrhythmia .
Studies about the prevalence of anxiety that results from atrial fibrillation pings are hard to come by . Fitbit collect-
6 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | FERUARY 2024