Comparison between electrocardiogram- and photoplethysmogram-derived features for atrial fibrillation detection in free-living conditions

Objective : Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most commonly experienced arrhythmia and it increases
the risk of stroke and heart failure. The challenge in detecting the presence of AF is the
occasional and asymptomatic manifestation of the condition. Long-term monitoring can increase the
sensitivity of detecting intermittent AF episodes, however it is either cumbersome or invasive and
costly with electrocardiography (ECG). Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an unobtrusive measuring
modality enabling heart rate monitoring, and promising results have been presented in detecting AF.
However, there is still limited knowledge about the applicability of the PPG solutions in
free-living conditions. The aim of this study was to compare the inter-beat interval derived
features for AF detection between ECG and wrist-worn PPG in daily life. Approach : The data
consisted of 24  h ECG, PPG, and accelerometer measurements from 27 patients (eight AF, 19 non-AF).
In total, seven features (...

Source: Physiological Measurement - August 7, 2018 Category: Physiology Authors: Linda M Eerik äinen, Alberto G Bonomi, Fons Schipper, Lukas R C Dekker, Rik Vullings, Helma M de Morree and Ronald M Aarts Source Type: research