Smart Wearable Biosensors to Monitor Your Heartbeats in Near-Real Time and Take Precise Decisions

Posted on September 23, 2021

Cardiac monitoring has come far. Considering the advent of the Holter monitor more than 60 years ago, the field has undergone relatively significant improvements in such a short period of time. Already, Wearable Biosensors are already beginning to address one major issue holding it back: accuracy. They have also proven to be a great boon for point of care.

If you want to know how exactly these wearable biosensors are able to achieve this, we encourage you to read on. We’ve outlined in detail how Cardiac Rhythm’s Faros biosensor can guarantee efficient and effective Real-Time Health Monitoring by being able to track heart rhythms and heartbeats in near real-time, anytime, and anywhere.

What Is a Cardiac Smart Wearable Biosensor?

Wearable biosensors used for cardiac monitoring are no different from most wearables that track a person’s general health. At least, this rings true in how it’s able to conduct close to real-time monitoring of various vital parameters or the patient’s overall status.

In the case of Cardiac Rhythm’s biosensor, on the whole, it “monitors every beat” of the heart for the specific duration prescribed by the patient’s attending physician. Now, you may ask, “How is this different from Holter monitors and other remote cardiac monitoring devices?” In no uncertain terms, it has technology on its side.

How Does It Benefit Cardiac Patients?

The platform’s Faros biosensor stands apart in the way it conducts remote patient monitoring. The biosensor is actually just one vital component in the company’s PatientCare program, which is what allows it to conduct state-of-the-art and highly accurate cardiac monitoring.

It plays a crucial role in gathering, analyzing, and taking into account the patient’s individual data through the following capabilities:

● It can function as either a long-term Holter monitor or cardiac event monitor.
● For long-term monitoring, it can be used to detect arrhythmias and cases of atrial fibrillation over a specific period of time, based on the doctor’s recommendations. This is a clear departure from the average way in which Holter monitors are prescribed for 24 to 48 hours only.
● More extensive, clearer monitoring and the fact that every heartbeat is tracked afford more opportunities to detect and analyze arrhythmias that could be missed by standard cardiac monitoring solutions. In fact, Cardiac Rhythm’s solution has already been proven to have a diagnostic yield of more than 60%, which is way higher than the usual 15% in standard monitors.

As for the biosensor’s ability to function as a cardiac event monitor, it’s able to bring more value with the following features:

● Similar to long-term Holter monitoring, it also conducts its monitoring on a beat-by-beat basis. It’s able to automatically capture abnormal beats this way, particularly those that arise as a result of the patient’s daily activities.
● The patient can be tracked for a maximum of 15 days, which is way lengthier compared to other monitors.
● The reasoning behind the longer monitoring is that, coupled with the biosensor’s enhanced signal, it will be able to detect even those events that are asymptomatic. Of course, the longer monitoring also makes it possible to overcome the usual issue encountered by ECG machines and Holter monitors in that they’re only useful for the entire duration that they’re actively monitoring the patient.
● The lengthier monitoring time is also made possible by the fact that the biosensor is entirely waterproof. Its functionalities won’t be interrupted should the patient decide to take a bath or swim. It will always be able to function 24/7, in short.

Precise, Timely Decision-Making for Attending Physicians

How will heart doctors be able to make more accurate diagnoses and better decisions once they decide to use Cardiac Rhythm’s solution for their patients? The answer to this lies in the following facts:

● It doesn’t only keep track of events. As it monitors the patient, doctors and the monitoring team will always be made aware of what the patient is currently doing during specific times of the day (i.e. his or her activity level). This way, they’ll be able to easily associate certain symptoms to specific activities based on how strenuous it is. Think of a stress test that’s always on.
● The accuracy is assured not only by the beat-by-beat monitoring but the monitoring team that keeps track of its data as well. Cardiac Rhythm has its own team of cardiac technicians who track and verify the data captured by the device as it’s being on active commission.
● The smart biosensor pairs its accuracy well with its ability to track patients in near real-time. We’re talking about no longer waiting for days or weeks just for doctors to gain a clear overview of the patient’s current state of health. Given the precarious state of certain high-risk cardiac patients, this feature can be nothing short of life-saving.
● An added bonus lies in the fact that it gives doctors control over how they want to conduct the monitoring. For one, they can configure it to automatically capture events based on certain periods or conditions. It adopts a more customized and personalized approach that places the patient in the forefront, in short.

Ultimately, doctors will be able to make more precise decisions because of the combination of a few factors:

● More accurate signals used when monitoring
● Length of monitoring
● The involvement of a dedicated monitoring team
● Personalization of monitoring
● Ease of accessibility of crucial patient data

Conclusion

The biosensors market is growing at close to an exponential rate in recent years. Already, it’s predicted to become a $36 billion industry by 2026. With how they’re being integrated into healthcare considered (i.e. Cardiac Rhythm’s monitoring solution), it really doesn’t take long to see just how much of a perfect fit it is in the said industry.

To sum things up, it’s a solution to the prevailing issue of accuracy in cardiac monitors. It does this by adopting a more thorough, and smarter approach in the way it conducts its monitoring. If you’re aware of how Holter monitors are utilized in standard medical settings, it won’t take long for you to see the difference.

Tags: Cardiac Monitoring Devices, Heartbeat Monitor, Wearable Biosensors