Passive Detection of Atrial Fibrillation Using a Commercially Available Smartwatch
Top Cited Papers
- 1 May 2018
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in JAMA Cardiology
- Vol. 3 (5), 409-416
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2018.0136
Abstract
Question How well can smartwatch sensor data analyzed by a deep neural network identify atrial fibrillation? Findings In this cohort study of 51 participants presenting for cardioversion, a commercially available smartwatch was able to detect atrial fibrillation with high accuracy. Among 1617 ambulatory individuals who wore a smartwatch, those with self-reported atrial fibrillation were correctly classified with moderate accuracy. Meaning These data support the proof of concept that a commercially available smartwatch coupled with a deep neural network classifier can passively detect atrial fibrillation. Importance Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects 34 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of stroke. A readily accessible means to continuously monitor for AF could prevent large numbers of strokes and death. Objective To develop and validate a deep neural network to detect AF using smartwatch data. Design, Setting, and Participants In this multinational cardiovascular remote cohort study coordinated at the University of California, San Francisco, smartwatches were used to obtain heart rate and step count data for algorithm development. A total of 9750 participants enrolled in the Health eHeart Study and 51 patients undergoing cardioversion at the University of California, San Francisco, were enrolled between February 2016 and March 2017. A deep neural network was trained using a method called heuristic pretraining in which the network approximated representations of the R-R interval (ie, time between heartbeats) without manual labeling of training data. Validation was performed against the reference standard 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) in a separate cohort of patients undergoing cardioversion. A second exploratory validation was performed using smartwatch data from ambulatory individuals against the reference standard of self-reported history of persistent AF. Data were analyzed from March 2017 to September 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures The sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristic C statistic for the algorithm to detect AF were generated based on the reference standard of 12-lead ECG–diagnosed AF. Results Of the 9750 participants enrolled in the remote cohort, including 347 participants with AF, 6143 (63.0%) were male, and the mean (SD) age was 42 (12) years. There were more than 139 million heart rate measurements on which the deep neural network was trained. The deep neural network exhibited a C statistic of 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94-1.00; P < .001) to detect AF against the reference standard 12-lead ECG–diagnosed AF in the external validation cohort of 51 patients undergoing cardioversion; sensitivity was 98.0% and specificity was 90.2%. In an exploratory analysis relying on self-report of persistent AF in ambulatory participants, the C statistic was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.64-0.78); sensitivity was 67.7% and specificity was 67.6%. Conclusions and Relevance This proof-of-concept study found that smartwatch photoplethysmography coupled with a deep neural network can passively detect AF but with some loss of sensitivity and specificity against a criterion-standard ECG. Further studies will help identify the optimal role for smartwatch-guided rhythm assessment.Keywords
This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- Worldwide Epidemiology of Atrial FibrillationCirculation, 2014
- Atrial Fibrillation and the Risk of Myocardial InfarctionJAMA Internal Medicine, 2014
- Atrial Fibrillation Begets Myocardial InfarctionJAMA Internal Medicine, 2014
- Long‐term Outcomes of Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysisJournal of the American Heart Association, 2013
- Cognitive Impairment Associated With Atrial Fibrillation A Meta-analysisAnnals of Internal Medicine, 2013
- Incident Atrial Fibrillation and Risk of End-Stage Renal Disease in Adults With Chronic Kidney DiseaseCirculation, 2013
- A novel application for the detection of an irregular pulse using an iPhone 4S in patients with atrial fibrillationHeart Rhythm, 2012
- Atrial fibrillation and the risk of incident dementia: A meta-analysisHeart Rhythm, 2012
- Automatic Real Time Detection of Atrial FibrillationAnnals of Biomedical Engineering, 2009
- ASymptomatic atrial fibrillation and Stroke Evaluation in pacemaker patients and the atrial fibrillation Reduction atrial pacing Trial (ASSERT)American Heart Journal, 2006