New study shows wearable trackers provide clinical use for heart disease patients

Cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, currently affects around seven million people in the UK

A new study published in Nature Medicine, led by the University of Birmingham’s cardAIc group, has revealed that over-the-counter wearable trackers provide clinically useful information for patients living with heart disease.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) – conditions that affect the heart or circulation – affects around seven million people in the UK and is a significant cause of disability and death.

The most common form of heart and circulatory disease, coronary heart disease, affects around 2.3 million people and occurs when coronary arteries become narrowed by a build-up of fatty material within their walls.

Consisting of a wrist band and connected smartphone, the wearable device collected data on the response to two different medications, digoxin and the beta blocker Zebeta (bisoprolol), prescribed to 160 patients aged 60 years or older with permanent atrial fibrillation and dyspnea, as part of the RATE-AF clinical trial, to determine whether they could continuously monitor the response to medications and provide clinical information similar to in-person hospital assessments.

Funded as part of the BigData@Heart consortium from the EU’s Innovative Medicines Initiative, researchers analysed over 140 million datapoints for heart rate in 53 individuals over 20 weeks using artificial intelligence (AI).

The team found that digoxin and beta blockers had a similar effect on heart rate and found that the wearables were equivalent to standard tests often used in hospitals and clinical trials, which require staff time and resources.

Lead author of the study, professor Dipak Kotecha, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, commented: “This study shows the potential to use this new technology to assess the response to treatment and make a positive contribution to the routine care of patients” and “is an exciting showcase for how AI can support new ways to help treat patients better.”

In June, a study conducted by European researchers from the University of Glasgow, the University of Oxford, KU Leuven and the University of Leicester and published in the BMJ revealed the shifting trends and persistent challenges in heart health and CVD in the UK.