Most of us wear a smartwatch or some other wearable because we want to know what is happening in our bodies that we cannot feel ourselves. And for certain problems, like atrial fibrillation, they are surprisingly good at catching things early. But here is the part that may surprise you.
No wearable has ever been able to detect the moment your heart actually stops.
As a cardiologist, one of the hardest problems I face is figuring out why someone suddenly faints. A person may pass out without warning and yet every test we run comes back normal. We use heart monitors that record rhythm for a few weeks, but these episodes are so brief and unpredictable that the devices often miss them. That is what makes this condition so difficult to diagnose.
That is why the announcement of loss of pulse detection on the Pixel Watch 3 earlier this year is such an important step. That simple change has real diagnostic value.
Take vasovagal syncope. It can happen when someone has blood drawn, faces a stressful moment, or even for no clear reason. The heart slows or pauses, blood pressure drops, and consciousness is lost. Unless we are recording at that exact second, the episode is invisible.
The same is true with sleep apnea. During apneic episodes, when breathing temporarily stops, the heart can also pause. Patients do not notice it because they are sleeping, and routine office visits never catch it.
Now imagine a watch capturing both the apneic event and the loss of pulse that goes with it.
Apple Watch already provides fall detection, which alerts when someone collapses. But it does not explain why. Pixel’s approach points upstream, toward the cause.
For patients, this promises faster answers to troubling symptoms. For clinicians, it helps close a blind spot in our workflow. And it is worth noting that Google for Health pursued and achieved FDA clearance for this feature. In a moment when many wearables skip this step, I commend Michael Howell, MD MPH and team for doing it the right way. Advances like this are how wearables move from wellness gadgets to trusted tools we can use in healthcare.
#Wearables #DigitalHealth #Cardiology #RemoteMonitoring #FDA