Health and fitness wearable are becoming more and more advanced with the passage of time in monitoring and keeping a track of biophysical functions of the body. This has been made possible by the development made in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Informatics, Software Development, Machine Learning and miniaturization of hardware in last few years.
Back in September of 2019, FitBit managed to receive the clearance from FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the United States of America to use its electrocardiogram to work along the lines of this development and get the rhythm of heart beat to track and diagnose atrial fibrillation early.
FitBit is already a frontrunner in the market of fitness and health wearables around the globe and this is further supported by the fact that tech giants like Google and Facebook were competing to acquire it, with obviously Google coming out on top. The acquisition, however, is yet to go through completely.
“Helping people understand and manage their heart health has always been a priority for Fitbit, and our new ECG app is designed for those users who want to assess themselves in the moment and review the reading later with their doctor,” stated Eric Friedman, who is the Co-Founder of Fitbit and also serves as the Chief Technology Officer there.
“Physicians are often flying blind as to the day-to-day lives of our patients in between office visits. I’ve long believed in the potential for wearable devices to help us stay better connected, and use real-world, individual data to deliver more informed, personalized care,” stated Mr. Venkatesh Raman in an official press release. He was serving as the clinical study Principal Investigator on the ECG Application being developed by FitBit.
“Given the toll that AFib continues to take on individuals and families around the world,” he added, “I’m very enthusiastic about the potential of this tool to help people detect possible AFib—a clinically important rhythm abnormality—even after they leave the physician’s office.”
Early detection of AFib can prove to be very crucial and can save a patient from many complications that can arise with the late diagnosis of this condition. FitBit’s application can prove to be very helpful and even revolutionary in terms of how we treat conditions related to heart.
