A new study suggests that a smart-technology wearable wristband may be able to automatically detect cardiac arrest, potentially improving survival odds by enabling faster medical assistance. The research, published today in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association, analyzed data from 49 adults in the Netherlands who had abnormal heart rhythms and underwent a medical procedure where a life-threatening rhythm was briefly induced.
The DETECT‑1b study focused on pulseless ventricular tachycardia (pVT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) induced during treatment. The algorithm-based wristband detected cardiac arrest 92% of the time, including 100% of VF cases and 90% of pVT cases. The device uses a light-based technique (photoplethysmography) to monitor blood flow changes in the wrist continuously.
“Our findings are important because many out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are unwitnessed. A smart technology wristband capable of automatically detecting cardiac arrest and triggering an alert could function as a digital witness,” said study senior author Judith Bonnes, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands. “With the device automatically notifying emergency services or nearby trained responders, help could arrive sooner, which may significantly improve survival chances.”
During 125 hours of recording, 59 shockable cardiac arrest events were recorded, with nine false positives. In per-patient analysis, accuracy for detecting irregular rhythms was 92%. The wristband differs from previous approaches because it allows continuous, unobtrusive monitoring in daily life, noted lead study author Roos Edgar, M.Sc., a technical physician at Radboud University Medical Center.
“This is the first study to externally validate such an algorithm using patient data, which is an important step toward developing a reliable detection system for real-world use,” Edgar said. The goal is to connect the wristband to emergency dispatch centers and volunteer responder networks so that alerts can be sent immediately when cardiac arrest is detected.
Even though this is a small study, the results are exciting, said Cameron Dezfulian, M.D., FAHA, chair of the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium Program Committee, who was not involved in the study. “What is more impressive than the ability of this technology to detect cardiac arrest is the fairly low frequency of false positives it detected,” Dezfulian said. “This study parallels findings from a study in Canada and one in the U.S. that shows this technology has great potential.”
The research was conducted in a controlled clinical setting, which is a limitation. The system’s effectiveness in real-world conditions still needs evaluation. The DETECT project involves collaboration among several hospitals and a company in the Netherlands to develop a smart wristband for automated cardiac arrest detection and emergency alerting. The American Heart Association provides additional resources on cardiac arrest at heart.org.
