Wearable ECG device

Hello,

I have the Kardia 1 and it's great for detecting AFib in an instance. I was wondering about other devices, kind of like a holter monitor, that I could wear for a few hours or at the gym, etc. that would pick up and specify PACs, PVCs, Vtach, etc. or other abnormalities like QTC prolongation. I'm trying to learn how to read ECGs but didn't know if there was something that would assist the user and tell them. Is the Apple Watch something to consider?

Thanks for any feedback!
Bob

I doubt any other ECG device than a pro grade one would be able to record readable tracings while the patient is exercising. One have to pause and stand still for one minute or so to avoid muscle induced artifacts.

Pompon's right that you're not going to find a consumer grade device that can record an ECG during exercise. You'll have to stop and be still for 30 seconds to get a recording with your Kardia. The Apple Watch won't detect afib when your heart rate is over 120, which it probably will be during exercise. I've also heard they won't provide support if you've been diagnosed with afib (go figure).

If you want to record during exercise I'd say the best you can do is a chest strap heart rate monitor and an app on your phone that measures R-R intervals, which can be a pretty good detector of afib (but not flutter, SVT, v-tach, etc because those are all regular rhythms).

OK, thanks, but what if it's not during exercise? In other words, what if I want to monitor for a couple hours just sitting, walking, sleeping to see if I'm experiencing PACS, PVCS, non-sustained VTach, etc. and at what burden?

Quote
BobsBeat
OK, thanks, but what if it's not during exercise? In other words, what if I want to monitor for a couple hours just sitting, walking, sleeping to see if I'm experiencing PACS, PVCS, non-sustained VTach, etc. and at what burden?

There are Chinese Holter ECG monitors on ebay [www.ebay.com] I've never used one. Back 12-15 years ago, several folks here got US medical Holter monitors. I borrowed one for a while. The analysis software was key to their use. Shaving body hair and wearing electrodes was more than I wanted to do, for what I needed, so never pursued it after playing with the borrowed Holter monitor for a number of weeks.

I can see PAC's PVC's, Vtach & afib on with my Polar H10 chest strap and app. I can record overnight or for many hours. I described what I do in this nearly five year old post: [www.afibbers.org] One guy contacted me about 18 months ago and happily got the setup working. It is a techy solution, so I don't recommend for those who aren't used to doing techy things. If you do want to do it, PM me and I can arrange to send the Polar software install file. The link for the software in this post no longer works.

Thanks George, I'll take a look

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum.
I'm dealing with asymptomatic but concerning PACs (currently 1 to 10 per minute).
I found the consumer grade ($60) Wellue VisualBeats works for ECG while riding a stationary bike using the chest strap.
Takes up to 30 minute strip while the app is open in your smart phone. It can export a one minute section of the strip to an email.
Three seconds of the strip is visible on your smart phone (delayed by about three seconds) so you can see if you are getting movement artifacts and adjust accordingly.

I found that using the unit with just electrode patches only works if I use extra latex tape to hold the middle of the unit from bouncing.
(Also buy extra electrode gel).
I use that configuration while sleeping because the chest strap is useless if you turn while lying down.

I'm probably going to get the Wellue version that can record 24 hours and have it's AI do analysis on my PC.
Manually doing the first pass analysis and deciding what to send the cardiologist is very time consuming.

Quote
AsympPACs
I found the consumer grade ($60) Wellue VisualBeats works for ECG while riding a stationary bike using the chest strap.
Takes up to 30 minute strip while the app is open in your smart phone. It can export a one minute section of the strip to an email.
Three seconds of the strip is visible on your smart phone (delayed by about three seconds) so you can see if you are getting movement artifacts and adjust accordingly.

I found that using the unit with just electrode patches only works if I use extra latex tape to hold the middle of the unit from bouncing.
(Also buy extra electrode gel).
I use that configuration while sleeping because the chest strap is useless if you turn while lying down.

I'm probably going to get the Wellue version that can record 24 hours and have it's AI do analysis on my PC.

I think these are the links for what you are talking about: Visual Beat
ECG RECORDER WITH AI ANALYSIS

I have another Wellue product and this link is supposed to give you 15% discount - note this is also supposed to give me a discount if used. I've not tried it before.

Hi GeorgeN,
Sorry I missed your response before I had ordered the Visual Beat ECG RECORDER WITH AI ANALYSIS. I did get 15% off through other means.
It did fulfill my needs to far.
The 3M Reddot electrodes that come with it are high quality and I can leave them on for a couple days.

The AI works well at counting and providing good reports.
A cool feature is the 24 hour recording is on the device itself but the device also allows you to simultaneously use your smartphone to see your ecg in realtime and to see how much charge is left on the device.