
Detecting heart arrhythmias using machine learning and Apple Watch data - dallas-stuart
http://insighthealthdata.com/blog/HealthyBeats/index.html
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brandonb
Yancheng was awesome to work with. We + UCSF actually just launched a
continuation of his work via the mRhythm Study:

    
    
      https://mRhythmStudy.org
    

If you have an Apple Watch, you can contribute data, regardless of whether you
have a heart condition.

~~~
melling
I installed the app and I got a spike of 121 bpm between 4am-4;30am for the
past couple of nights. That seems a bit strange. Nightmares? Buggy software?

~~~
brandonb
Getting some spikes is normal while you're in REM sleep. Here's an example of
restful sleep vs sleep after a night of drinking:
[http://imgur.com/l9RVeK5](http://imgur.com/l9RVeK5)

In general, we'd like to add more comparisons in the app so that you know how
your stats fit in to the larger population. Stay tuned. :)

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asd
I predict that in 10 years, more people than not will be wearing a smart watch
of some type that will continuously be tracking vitals. You'll probably even
be offered a free one by your employer or health provider.

Average heartrate gradually going up over the last few weeks? Your doctor's
office will ping you to drop by. Sleep patterns have been erratic lately? Send
down an electronic questionnaire to see what's up. You see? If you unveil the
symptoms sooner, you can treat them sooner. That makes sense. $$$.

~~~
theoh
That's a dystopian scenario, given that poor health is often an excuse for
discriminating against the unfortunate people who experience it.

Disclosing everything to a trusted employer or health provider is a step we
need to be very careful about. It's panopticon territory.

~~~
jmount
Also I bet we are going to find the health statistics of people found to have
minor arrhythmia through cheap continuous screening are going to be completely
different than those that come in with a complaint and are given a one-time
screening. It may turn out to not be as clinically useful as hoped.

~~~
entee
Almost certainly true. Also, how accurate are these optical HR sensors?

Chest strap monitors are somewhat more accurate than optical monitors:

[http://www.wareable.com/sport/heart-rate-monitors-chest-
stra...](http://www.wareable.com/sport/heart-rate-monitors-chest-straps-v-
wrist)

And it's unclear whether the optical measures are accurate enough to inform
health decisions. I can say we've looked at this at our company and it's a
fairly complicated picture...

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dghughes
Aww too bad I have a Microsoft Band2 not an Apple watch.

I'm watching my heart rate like crazy since I was diagnosed with
hypothyroidism last Friday and my metamorphosis back to being human again
since I started taking synthroid it's interesting to see but especially my
heart rate.

My resting heart rate which was around 70 bpm (yeah I'm a slug) but now it's
about 85 bpm.

The Microsoft Health website to view Band2 data is OK but not really detailed
e.g. my heart rate last night
[https://i.imgur.com/E4Y8IzZ.png](https://i.imgur.com/E4Y8IzZ.png)

I only wish I had the Band2 or any fitness tracker sooner to get more of a
baseline or better yet before my thyroid decided to go on it's five year death
spiral and take me with it.

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seivan
I'm hoping with these gadgets at some point we'll have enough data tracked to
do meaningful analytics, if not just on yourself but across a lot of
voluntarily uploaded data. Not a big deal with a heartbeat every 10 minutes
right now, But 5-10 years from now that would at minimum be very cool.

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melling
My feeling is that for health and safety reasons everyone will soon be wearing
smart watches:

[https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/in-the-future-
everyo...](https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/in-the-future-everyone-
will-wear-a-smartwatch/)

We could use a few more sensors like blood pressure and skin temperature.

What's really needed is for Android Watches to aggressively compete with
Apple. Apple and Samsung, for example, would really push each other.

~~~
dghughes
The MS Band2 has skin temperature and galvanic sensors but you don't see the
temperature data like heart rate. I think skin temp used for the calories
burned data but it would be nice to see it, there are third party apps to view
it. It has a UV sensor too but only on-demand when you select it.

No I don't work for Microsoft.

Blood pressure would be tricky then again the watch is around your wrist so
maybe not.

A real-time blood sugar reading would be nice to see too.

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walkingolof
Eventually this will be a great tool, but today, I would not put my well being
into a smartwatch, with or without machine learning

