Smartwatch ECG vs clinical ECG: how accurate is it?
Dr Ravi Assomull explains how smartwatch ECG technology compares to clinical ECG testing. In this video, he highlights how wearable devices can help capture heart rhythm during symptoms when traditional monitoring may miss them.
Learn more about Electrocardiogram (ECG) or book a consultation with Dr Assomull – no GP referral needed, appointments typically within one working day.
Transcript
A smartwatch ECG is a relatively new form of technology which has had a tremendous value. In the past we've had people with palpitations, we've put an ECG monitor on for 24 hours, 7 days, even 14 days, and when we've done that they haven't had the symptoms and we haven't been able to establish whether there is any underlying arrhythmia. With a smartwatch ECG, because it's always on your wrist, we have the opportunity to capture your heart rhythm with a single lead ECG at the time of your symptom onset such as palpitations.
So it will actually sometimes help us to get to the answer when conventional ambulatory ECGs haven't. A standard normal ECG is a 10 second snapshot of 12 views of the heart, we call it the 12 lead ECG. And an ambulatory ECG, as I've already said, is a device that we can put on the chest, but we're limited to a certain period of time where we can monitor your heart rhythm continuously, being from 12 days all the way up to 2 weeks.
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