The US FDA gave Fitbit permission earlier this month to passively transmit warnings when its trackers and smartwatches identified Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) symptoms. Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications are now being sent out by Fitbit to nine of its products, including the Sense and Charge 5.
Uneven Heart Rhythm Fitbit has chosen to refer to the alerts that users receive about potential heart issues as notifications. AFib is the most prevalent type of abnormal cardiac rhythm, affecting approximately 5 million people in the United States alone, according to John Hopkins Medicine , and over 33 million people worldwide, according to Fitbit. According to Fitbit, AFib is a severe disorder that increases a person’s risk of stroke by five times.
Although it doesn’t require quite as much gear, the technology that drives these Fitbit notifications is similar to that utilized for electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements. Instead, they rely on Fitbit’s PPG (photoplethysmography) algorithm, which the firm claims is 98% more accurate than a conventional ECG equipment at identifying these disorders. Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications will be offered on nine products, as shown below, in contrast to ECG, which is only available on Fitbit Sense and Charge 5.
THESE FITBIT PRODUCTS SUPPORT NOTIFICATIONS OF IRREGULAR HEART RHYTHMS: at least version 44.128.1.42 of the Fitbit Sense firmware firmware version 36.128.1.42 or higher for the Fitbit Versa 3 software version 35.68.9.7 or higher for the Fitbit Versa 2 software version 38.33.1.30 or higher for the Fitbit Versa Lite firmware for the Fitbit Charge 5 that is 20001.141.4 or more at least version 58.20001.130.17 of the Fitbit Luxe firmware at least Fitbit Charge 4 firmware version 20001.78.33 At least software version 20001.49.45 for the Fitbit Charge 3 At least software version 20001.98.14 for the Fitbit Inspire 2 Update: Fitbit has confirmed that in order to use this feature on an support page , you must update the Fitbit’s firmware. The minimum firmware version for each device is now included in the list above, which has been updated.
Fitbit takes readings while the wearer is still or asleep and detects abnormal heart rhythms without any user input. The Fitbit app receives notifications.
Uneven Heart Rhythm On the aforementioned devices, notifications will begin to roll out starting on April 25, albeit it might take a few weeks for everyone to see them.
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