Passive cardiac monitoring has become synonymous with wearable technologies, necessitating patients to incorporate new devices into their daily routines. While this requirement may not be a burden for many, it is a constraint for individuals with chronic diseases who already have their daily routine. In this study, we introduce an innovative technology that harnesses the front-facing camera of smartphones to capture pulsatile signals discreetly when users engage in other activities on their device. We conducted a clinical study to gather real world evidence that passive video-based cardiac monitoring is feasible and it can be used to gather daily information about cardiac status of patients with a history of atrial fibrillation (AF). The study involved 16 patients who used an application called HealthKam AFib (HK) on their Android smartphone for a period of 14 days. They also wore an ECG patch during the first 7 days that was used as a reference device. Subjects were asked to also perform self testing procedures using video selfies twice a day, but measurements were also collected in the background during normal device usage. The 16 subjects had the HK app installed on their device during an average time period of 12.8±2.3 days. On average, the measurement rate was 2.1±1.6 measurements per hour of utilization of the smartphone. Heart rate measurements were found to be highly accurate, with a mean error equal to -0.3 bpm. The study revealed that passive facial video monitoring collected reliable data in real-world conditions.
Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Cardiac monitoring; Electrocardiogram; Heart rate; Photoplethysmography; Pulse rate; Videoplethysmography.
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