Afib detection

[NorthGeorgia]

I am new to this 'community'.  So there may already be a discussion about this but not aware of where to find it.

I DO NOT have constant Afib....but am being diagnosed as one who has it.  I am NOT on any medication.  I will experience an 'episode' maybe every couple of weeks or even less often.... before an episode will appear.  I had an episode a few days ago and used the ECG to verify.  But my Sense watch NEVER alerted me to it.  I have contacted 'support' and their explanation seems somewhat vague.  The best I can interpret to what they said..... I have to have several episodes before my watch will assume something is amiss and then will alert me????

Is that what Y'all verify as being so???  If this is so, I can't say my watch will be of much help?  I have set up the watch properly and the Afib alert is set up to do so.

My doctor was going to put in a device in me but he said if the watch can alert me as to when an episode is happening that would be sufficient.  Well my watch is not.

Can anyone give me a better explanation on what I can expect?  If this watch is not or cannot alert me to my 'every once in a while' episodes  then I'll either have to have to do 'out patient' device insertion or investigate a different watch (Apple?).

[SunsetRunner]

The short answer is this is not a medical device. Listen to your doctor.

[NorthGeorgia]

I agree.  The doctor, not knowing the abilities of the Sense watch, was saying "IF" the watch can detect an Afib episode as it is happening then that is all I would need and not need to do the 'device' insertion.  So, I am still trying to figure out if the Sense watch can alert a person to an Afib episode?  Reading the explanation given on their web site it seemed like it could?  But the 'customer service' rep did not really know what to say?  And the eventual response I got from the 'higher ups' in the service support area seemed to be indicating that several episodes had to happen before the watch 'might' indicate something?  Too much vagueness and conflicting explanations.

[subashp]

Hi,

I am also using fitbit sense for any AFib detection & your comment is concerning. Just to be clear, are you talking about AFib detection using the ECG app or when/as it happens. The later is based on whether their algorithm can deduce it using pulse measurement. Former is based on the P waves, QRS complex & T waves. Although it is single lead ECG, there are other FDA approved products in the market that reliably detect many forms of arrhythmias. When you think you may be having an episode next time, can you pls check on the ECG app?

Discard support & their managers. They wont have any medical/technology knowledge to answer your concerns. Lets try to solve this for everyone. This is one of the important measurements for the early detection of heart problems.

Regards,

Subash

[subashp]

Fitbit claims their AFib detection is FDA approved. So that makes it medical grade device.

https://healthsolutions.fitbit.com/blog/news/fitbit-gets-fda-approval-for-afib-detecting-algorithm/

[NorthGeorgia]

I have used the ECG app on the watch whenever I have detected I was having an episode.  On the most part I do 'eventually' get a read-out indicating I am experiencing an Afib situation.  But.......this is only good for when I KNOW that I am experiencing an episode.  What the Doctor wants to know is if I am experiencing an situation/episode that I DON'T KNOW. These type of situations would be like when I am asleep.  A 'device' would detect those that happen when I am asleep or other times where I might not notice.  The 'explanation' on Fitbit implies that the watch could possibly detect these situations.  But, as I explained in my previous notations on this subject the Fitbit 'persons' don't seem to be supporting that???  

In fact on my last episode the watch DID NOT alert me to my situation even tho I knew an episode was happening and the ECG supported that.....but the 'alert' at the time of the episode was non existant.

So......I am beginning to think the Fitbit cannot alert the INSTANT the episode is happening......even tho when I looked at the heart monitor readout it sure showed an up-tick in the heart rate??

So confusing......

[subashp]

As I understand AFib detection in fitbit, there are two types. One is using hardware(ECG electrodes are present at the edge of the watch) & software(their proprietary algorithm that uses pulse & other sensors to predict an AFib)

Afaik, AFib has a unique signature. Atrial depolarization (or P wave) is missing in an ECG. How can ecg hardware detect when you are sleeping? If you are speaking of device as their software algorithm, then I wont trust it because I dont know how reliably one can detect missing electrical signal using pulse rate? They probably rely on elevated pulse rate when idle to trigger AFib detection. Just throwing out ideas here. If they do that on the phone or cloud, try having active bluetooth & internet connection. For reliable detection, your doctor may provide you a Holter monitor to be worn at all times, which is continuous ECG that can detect arrhythmias.

[NorthGeorgia]

It is now 8 months later since I made the initial inquiry/question.  I am still using the Sense (not the Sense 2) and it is not recognizing aFib detection at all.  When attempting to use the ECG on the watch it gets extremely frustrating.  The 'INCONCLUSIVE' response is coming up almost all the time now.  Even when the watch indicates my Heart Rate is in the low 100's (during the aFib episode) the ECG CANNOT detect it - INCONCLUSIVE is all I get.  It is not until I have gone maybe an hour or so during the aFib episode and the Heart Rate gets into the low 90's or so will the ECG finally detect a reading.  I am finding this watch to be extremely frustrating.  It's only use, in my opinion, is if one does not have a Heart condition and is in the 'normal' range of a person.  Maybe I need to look for another brand of watch?