About HeartRhythm
I’m a physician and a professional programmer, and I have an abnormal heart rhythm. Like so many with an arrhythmia, I searched for an app that could monitor my rhythm, but none provided me what I needed, so I created...
I’m a physician and a professional programmer, and I have an abnormal heart rhythm. Like so many with an arrhythmia, I searched for an app that could monitor my rhythm, but none provided me what I needed, so I created this app.
Here is what I think we arrhythmia sufferers need (and what HeartRhythm delivers):
- Accuracy, so you can trust the results.
- Rhythm collection in the background during exercise and rest.
- Data storage for later review and to share with your heart specialist, if needed.
- Graphs, charts, and tables that can be quickly understood.
HeartRhythm is an Android app for monitoring your heart rhythm. I developed this app when my arrhythmia, of years duration, quickly worsened over months, as did my frustration with the unknown. Was my arrhythmia severe enough to cause cardiac weakening, could I improve it with lifestyle changes, might other medications offer relief, or would I need an invasive heart procedure to destroy the arrhythmia-causing tissue in my heart? I wrestled with these questions and decided to create the app where I could demonstrate to my heart specialist the degree of my arrhythmia.
Most heart rhythm apps use an inaccurate method of gathering heart rhythm data. Its scientific name is photoplethysmography and works by the user sitting very quietly with one finger firmly covering both the cellphone's camera and LED flash. The app then takes a series of "images" of the fingertip, analyzing each for the very slight color change with each heartbeat. The technique is simply too inefficient and insensitive to provide accurate rhythm information and requires the user to sit perfectly still. Think about it, is your cell phone camera capable of taking a thousand photos per second for the accuracy needed? No.
As scientists say, "Garbage in, garbage out". If the technique for plotting exactly when each heartbeat occurs is inaccurate, then the heart rhythm assumptions based on that data are also flawed.
As a heart rhythm sufferer, you need an app capable of monitoring your heart rhythm when sweating heavily, breathing deeply or moving quickly during full exercise, as well as at rest. I exercise daily and suffered frightening symptoms when exercising. The available apps could only monitor my heart briefly while sitting motionless.
You also need to collect hundreds or thousands of heartbeats in each session, not thirty seconds worth. Photoplethysmography cannot do prolonged collection since the camera's flash becomes too hot to touch in seconds, not minutes.
For accuracy and active use, only an app that connects wirelessly to an external heart monitoring device will suffice. There is only several choices, but from great companies, such as Polar Electro and Sigma Sports. They manufacture chest strap heart monitors the size of key fob. Benefits include a Bluetooth connection (so no wires), affordability, sweat-proof, long-running on a simple watch battery, and accuracy. They are available on Amazon too.
Data storage is on your phone, not on some costly cloud server, which allows you to compare, track, and correlate medication and lifestyle changes over many sessions. It's needed if your goal is to improve your arrhythmia.
A goal is allow our users to review data at a glance. This is more art than science, is efficient and educational and provided with the right mix of graphs, tables and histograms.
Now for the disclaimer. While I am a physician and a programmer, I did not design HeartRhythm as a diagnostic tool. It is designed for users who have been (or need to be) properly diagnosed with a known cardiac arrhythmia and wish to monitor their arrhythmia. HeartRhythm has not been reviewed by the FDA. Errors in data collection are expected. The electrocardiogram and 24-hr Holter monitor are the gold standards in medicine for arrhythmia diagnosis. HeartRhythm cannot compete with these technologies.
More information, including my blog, is found on https://HeartRhythm.app.
Previous Versions
Here you can find the changelog of HeartRhythm since it was posted on our website on 2019-10-27 03:27:55.
The latest version is 2.42 and it was updated on 2024-04-23 10:54:26. See below the changes in each version.
HeartRhythm version 2.42
Updated At: 2020-01-20
Changes: Added a foreground service to keep the app alive when the screen sleeps IF the heart rhythm is being actively collected by the HeartRhythm app. Otherwise, the Android operating system may kill HeartRhythm. When HeartRhythm stops collecting heart beats, the foreground service is stopped, consistent with the policies of the Android operating system. Bug repaired in email feature.
HeartRhythm version 2.39
Updated At: 2019-12-05
Changes: Added timestamp in milliseconds to CSV output for researchers. First line of CSV is base time.
HeartRhythm version 2.36
Updated At: 2019-11-25
Changes: Even smaller memory footprint and improved memory management. Added Server option: upload to HeartRhythm server and provide permission thru email for another to review your heart rhythm session(s); full graphs, stats, and CSV output available. see link https://www.heartrhythm.app/server-services/
HeartRhythm version 2.37
Updated At: 2019-07-13
Changes: Fast scrolling with thousands of data points. **Requires Polar H7 or Sigma R1 heart monitor and chest strap.**
Disclaimer
Official Google Play Link
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