Can Sense detect Afib 24/7

[flroots]

Can the Sense detect Afib continuously or is it just on demand? Some time ago the doctor told me I was in Afib, but I was not able to sense anything different. For this reason I would like a device that offers continuous Afib detection as opposed to on demand.

[JohnnyRow]

It is actually not available yet, coming soon in a firmware release.  But my understanding is that it is to be "on demand".  You have to be touching certain part of the casing with fingers to get the ecg reading;  I have not extensively looked at other company's trackers but, from what I have seen, this is similar to how they all work.

[FloppyDrive]

You might want to look into QardioCore. 25-40% of arrhythmias are silent and may not be picked up by on-demand devices.

[flroots]

What is it that the Sense does do 24/7? Can it detect irregular heart beat which may be a sign of Afib? I'm referring to the recently approved Sense that became available this month.

[JohnnyRow]

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@JohnnyRow wrote:

It is actually not available yet, coming soon in a firmware release.  But my understanding is that it is to be "on demand".  You have to be touching certain part of the casing with fingers to get the ecg reading;  I have not extensively looked at other company's trackers but, from what I have seen, this is similar to how they all work.

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Adding onto what I said before, I recently read that afib episodes are often preceded by rapid heart rates.  The Sense (maybe also Versa 3) has a user-settable alarm for if your heart rate stays above a preset level I think for over 10 minutes when you are not exercising.  If that is true for you, that alarm might help indicate when to do an on-demand reading.

Here is the article from The Skeptical Cardiologist : https://theskepticalcardiologist.com/2020/09/27/apple-watch-versus-kardia-to-monitor-atrial-fibrilla...

It is specifically about Apple Watch but I expect would apply much the same to Fitbit Sense.

[flroots]

I've read that the Apple watch can notify you on 3 conditions: high heart rate, low heart rate, and irregular heart rate. The irregular heart rate seems especially important. Can the Fitbit Sense also do that? If not, isn't that a major shortcoming?