Arrhythmias & electrophysiology
Validation of a novel smartphone-based photoplethysmographic method for ambulatory heart rhythm diagnostics: the SMARTBEATS study
Authors' conclusion
A novel smartphone-PPG method can be used by patients unsupervised at home to achieve accurate heart rhythm diagnostics of AF and AFL with very high sensitivity and specificity.
Study context
- Population
- Unselected patients after direct current cardioversion for atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter, recording at home
- Participants
- 280 patients18,005 simultaneous recordings
- Comparison
- Smartphone PPG vs single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Outcome
- Diagnostic performance of smartphone PPG vs simultaneous ECG (sensitivity, specificity, overall accuracy)
- Follow-up
- 30 days post-cardioversion
Methodological detailsambulatory unsupervised recordings, simultaneous ECG reference, Recordings read independently by two experienced readers
- Ambulatory unsupervised recordings
- Simultaneous ECG reference
- Recordings read independently by two experienced readers
Performance
As reported in the abstract
PPG vs ECG diagnostic accuracy
| Test or model | Sensitivity (atrial flutter (AFL) included) | Specificity (AFL included) | Overall accuracy (AFL included) | Sensitivity (AFL excluded) | Specificity (AFL excluded) | Overall accuracy (AFL excluded) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPG | 97.7% | 99.4% | 98.9% | 99.0% | 99.7% | 99.5% |
PPG
Sensitivity (atrial flutter (AFL) included)97.7%
Specificity (AFL included)99.4%
Overall accuracy (AFL included)98.9%
Sensitivity (AFL excluded)99.0%
Specificity (AFL excluded)99.7%
Overall accuracy (AFL excluded)99.5%
Further findings
Recordings of sufficient quality for diagnosis
P < 0.001
Original publication
Validation of a novel smartphone-based photoplethysmographic method for ambulatory heart rhythm diagnostics: the SMARTBEATS study. Europace. Published 27 March 2024. doi:10.
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