Identification of Arrhythmias With One-time ECG

In Western countries, every sixth person in their lifetime and 15,000 people in Finland have a new stroke each year. About every fourth stroke is based on cardiac embolism. Atrial fibrillation causes formation of thrombi in the left atrium with ensuing embolization in the cerebral and peripheral circulation.

This study investigates the suitability of measurement techniques and new calculation methods used in sport/wellness technology for the screening and diagnosis of atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias. New measurement technologies, the one-time ECG measurement and pulse wristband measurement, are studied for their characteristics, data quality and rhythm recognition. Identifying latent arrhythmias with new self-monitoring technologies can significantly reduce the number of strokes (the latent arrhythmias causes about 25% of strokes).

The research will be accomplished in cooperation with the Kuopio University Hospital Emergency Department, the Heart Center, the Department of Applied Physics of the University of Eastern Finland and Heart2Save Ltd.

The results of the research project will be published in the scientific journals of medicine and medical technology and will be presented at scientific conferences of the respective fields. The research results of the project can be utilized by all companies in the medical technology industry, in particular companies that produce ECG measuring instruments and companies that produce rhythm recognition software.