The wireless patch continuously monitors heart rhythms, storing EKG data for later analysis. It’s water resistant and can be kept on around the clock while a person sleeps, exercises, or takes a shower. The Zio patch is a 2-by-5-inch adhesive patch, worn much like a bandage, on the upper left side of the chest. The data included various forms of arrhythmia and normal heart rhythms from people who had worn the FDA-approved Zio patch for about two weeks. As published in Nature Medicine, the Stanford team started by assembling a large EKG dataset from more than 53,000 people.
Here’s where the team, led by computer scientists Awni Hannun and Andrew Ng, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, saw an AI opportunity. That’s not always easy to do with current methods. This is an important arrhythmia to detect, even if it may only be present occasionally over many days of monitoring. The precise, wave-like features of the electrical impulses allow doctors to determine whether a person’s heart is beating normally.įor example, in people with AFib, the heart’s upper chambers (the atria) contract rapidly and unpredictably, causing the ventricles (the main heart muscle) to contract irregularly rather than in a steady rhythm.
In fact, after just seven months of training, the computer-devised algorithm was as good-and in some cases even better than-cardiology experts at making the correct diagnostic call.ĮKG tests measure electrical impulses in the heart, which signal the heart muscle to contract and pump blood to the rest of the body. The computer became so “smart” that it could classify 10 different types of irregular heart rhythms, including atrial fibrillation (AFib). Now, NIH-funded researchers have found that artificial intelligence (AI) can help.Ī powerful computer “studied” more than 90,000 EKG recordings, from which it “learned” to recognize patterns, form rules, and apply them accurately to future EKG readings. (I’m glad to say I am in normal sinus rhythm.)įor true medical benefit, however, the challenge lies in analyzing the vast amounts of data-often hundreds of hours worth per person-to distinguish reliably between harmless rhythm irregularities and potentially life-threatening problems. In fact, my Apple Watch makes it possible to record a real-time EKG whenever I want. Thanks to advances in wearable health technologies, it’s now possible for people to monitor their heart rhythms at home for days, weeks, or even months via wireless electrocardiogram (EKG) patches. Francis Collins Credit: gettyimages/enot-poloskun Using Artificial Intelligence to Catch Irregular Heartbeats
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