Fitbit was one of the first tech companies to win over people that wearing a uninterrupted center rate sensor on your carpus was a unspoiled and utilitarian matter to do . But in the years since release its first core rate - trailing set , Fitbit has fallen behind when it comes to modern health lineament . For example , Apple put amedical - grade electrocardiogram sensorin its Apple Watch Series 4 , which is able to detect atrial fibrillation with clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration . That was back in 2018 .
Fitbit just launch the Fitbit Heart Study with the destination of enrolling 250,000 multitude to show that its algorithm can accurately detect atrial fibrillation . It will then take that data and resign it the the FDA . If Fitbit wins clearance , it will educate a feature for future devices that will passively supervise your bosom rate and alert you to an temporary rhythm — a sign of atrial fibrillation , which is a disease that can chair to stroke or mettle onset . Fitbit may also grow an ECG app standardized to the one in the Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 .
But first , it has to win over people to sign up for the study . Fitbit is aiming for users 65 and older , because they ’re at high danger for AFib .
Image: (Fitbit)
While Apple was able to prove it could diagnose AFib without offering make - in eternal sleep - tracking , Fitbit enquiry scientist Tony Faranesh told Gizmodo that Fitbit ’s uninterrupted heart rate - tracking , which works even overnight while users are kip , give the algorithm more data . That ’s important , because atrial fibrillation is episodic — in other Word of God , it ’s not a consistently irregular heart musical rhythm , and episodes can find every so often .
“ You may have to face for a very long time to catch an episode , ” Faranesh order . “ Our goal is not just to notify the user , but also provide some historical information to help the conversation with a physician . ”
Fitbit drug user with heart rate - monitor trackers or smartwatches who choose to opt into the written report will have the previous 30 twenty-four hour period of their pump rate data analyzed to start . If the algorithm detects atrial fibrillation , they ’ll right away see a notification in the Fitbit app on their smartphone . The alert will offer the selection to speak with a telehealth physician , who will order an ECG monitor that the user will fag out on their thorax to monitor their heart . They ’ll get into that maculation with a Fitbit for a workweek , then send it back to the doc . After the results are analyzed , the medico will schedule a follow - up appointment to review the diagnosing and provide recommendations as to how to go .
“ Finding out that you have heart disease can be traumatic , ” Fitbit co - founding father Eric Friedman , who is also the caller ’s principal applied science ship’s officer , order Gizmodo . “ Part of the reason we ’re working with this telemedicine provider is to be able-bodied to get [ users ] a doctor ’s appointment , potentially within minutes , but definitely within hour . They can understand it , talk them through it , give them advice on how to talk to a physician . ”
Once the bailiwick close , Fitbit will posit its findings to the FDA for revue . In term of privacy , Fitbit is abide by the step that other technical school companies who carry clinical studies ( including Apple with its Apple Heart Study ) have survey . Faranesh state the written report has been reviewed by an ethics board and that all of the data point accumulate is de - key out . Users who enroll will have to sign up a HIPAA say-so to deal their data with a MD if necessary as part of the report . The data point will be archive following ending of the trial .
If the FDA resolve that Fitbit ’s algorithm can accurately diagnose AFib , the caller will start lick on both a passive trailing system and an ECG app , similar to Apple ’s , that could appear on the next generation of Fitbit ’s tracker and smartwatches . This could potentially save lives — AFib contributes to some 130,000 death in the U.S. each year , and many people who have the disease never know symptoms .
Fitbit is also knead on FDA clearance forsleep apnea diagnosis , which would be a unequaled aesculapian - class feature in the smartwatch landscape . If Fitbit is cleared by the FDA to add diagnostic tool to its gimmick , it ’s worth note that the company is about to formally be under Google ’s umbrella . Some drug user might be unbelieving that sprightliness - saving features are worth hand Google so much of your personal health information — and they might be ripe .
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