Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure

Introduction Heart rate (HR) monitors could objectively measure physical activity intensity in patients with cardiac disease. However, thorough validation of HR monitors in cardiac populations during daily life, compared to gold-standard Holter monitoring, remains limited. Photoplethysmography (PPG)...

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Main Authors: Paulien Vermunicht, Katsiaryna Makayed, Christophe Buyck, Lieselotte Knaepen, Juan Sebastian Piedrahita Giraldo, Sebastiaan Naessens, Wendy Hens, Emeline Van Craenenbroeck, Kris Laukens, Lien Desteghe, Hein Heidbuchel
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Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-06-01
Series:Digital Health
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251337598
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author Paulien Vermunicht
Katsiaryna Makayed
Christophe Buyck
Lieselotte Knaepen
Juan Sebastian Piedrahita Giraldo
Sebastiaan Naessens
Wendy Hens
Emeline Van Craenenbroeck
Kris Laukens
Lien Desteghe
Hein Heidbuchel
author_facet Paulien Vermunicht
Katsiaryna Makayed
Christophe Buyck
Lieselotte Knaepen
Juan Sebastian Piedrahita Giraldo
Sebastiaan Naessens
Wendy Hens
Emeline Van Craenenbroeck
Kris Laukens
Lien Desteghe
Hein Heidbuchel
author_sort Paulien Vermunicht
collection DOAJ
description Introduction Heart rate (HR) monitors could objectively measure physical activity intensity in patients with cardiac disease. However, thorough validation of HR monitors in cardiac populations during daily life, compared to gold-standard Holter monitoring, remains limited. Photoplethysmography (PPG)-based HR data provides near-continuous data, spanning longer periods, but improved algorithms to filter unreliable data are needed. Methods This observational, prospective pilot study compared the accuracy of two wearables for HR monitoring (electrocardiogram [ECG]-based Polar H10 chest strap and PPG-based Fitbit Inspire 2 wrist tracker) against Holter monitoring in 15 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF) and coronary artery disease referred for cardiac rehabilitation (CR). All devices were worn simultaneously for 24 h. We developed and assessed an artefact removal procedure (ARP) using logistic regression machine learning models to detect unreliable PPG data. Results The ECG-based chest strap showed a strong correlation ( r  = 0.94) and clinically acceptable errors (mean absolute error, MAE = 3.4 bpm; mean absolute percentage error, MAPE = 4.9%). Photoplethysmography data exhibited weaker correlation ( r  = 0.69) and higher errors (MAE = 8.3 bpm, MAPE = 14.3%), with highest accuracies in CR and lowest in HF and especially AF. After implementing the ARP, PPG-based HR data improved to a correlation of 0.75, with MAE of 7.2 bpm and MAPE of 12.4%. The procedure removed nearly one-third of unreliable data, achieving an 81% accuracy. Conclusions While ECG-based monitors provide HR data with clinical acceptable accuracy, PPG-based monitors present accuracy challenges. Our machine learning procedure showed potential to filter unreliable PPG-based HR data, which could help measure physical activity intensity in cardiac disease continuously.
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spelling doaj-art-ed36748c27434d40b7cd19d2d4274bfd2025-08-20T02:10:09ZengSAGE PublishingDigital Health2055-20762025-06-011110.1177/20552076251337598Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedurePaulien Vermunicht0Katsiaryna Makayed1Christophe Buyck2Lieselotte Knaepen3Juan Sebastian Piedrahita Giraldo4Sebastiaan Naessens5Wendy Hens6Emeline Van Craenenbroeck7Kris Laukens8Lien Desteghe9Hein Heidbuchel10 Department of Cardiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium Biomedical Informatics Research Network Antwerp (Biomina), , Antwerp, Belgium Department of Cardiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium Heart Center Hasselt, Jessa Hospital, Hasselt, Belgium Biomedical Informatics Research Network Antwerp (Biomina), , Antwerp, Belgium Department of Cardiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium Department of Cardiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium Department of Cardiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium Biomedical Informatics Research Network Antwerp (Biomina), , Antwerp, Belgium Heart Center Hasselt, Jessa Hospital, Hasselt, Belgium Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, , Hasselt, BelgiumIntroduction Heart rate (HR) monitors could objectively measure physical activity intensity in patients with cardiac disease. However, thorough validation of HR monitors in cardiac populations during daily life, compared to gold-standard Holter monitoring, remains limited. Photoplethysmography (PPG)-based HR data provides near-continuous data, spanning longer periods, but improved algorithms to filter unreliable data are needed. Methods This observational, prospective pilot study compared the accuracy of two wearables for HR monitoring (electrocardiogram [ECG]-based Polar H10 chest strap and PPG-based Fitbit Inspire 2 wrist tracker) against Holter monitoring in 15 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF) and coronary artery disease referred for cardiac rehabilitation (CR). All devices were worn simultaneously for 24 h. We developed and assessed an artefact removal procedure (ARP) using logistic regression machine learning models to detect unreliable PPG data. Results The ECG-based chest strap showed a strong correlation ( r  = 0.94) and clinically acceptable errors (mean absolute error, MAE = 3.4 bpm; mean absolute percentage error, MAPE = 4.9%). Photoplethysmography data exhibited weaker correlation ( r  = 0.69) and higher errors (MAE = 8.3 bpm, MAPE = 14.3%), with highest accuracies in CR and lowest in HF and especially AF. After implementing the ARP, PPG-based HR data improved to a correlation of 0.75, with MAE of 7.2 bpm and MAPE of 12.4%. The procedure removed nearly one-third of unreliable data, achieving an 81% accuracy. Conclusions While ECG-based monitors provide HR data with clinical acceptable accuracy, PPG-based monitors present accuracy challenges. Our machine learning procedure showed potential to filter unreliable PPG-based HR data, which could help measure physical activity intensity in cardiac disease continuously.https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251337598
spellingShingle Paulien Vermunicht
Katsiaryna Makayed
Christophe Buyck
Lieselotte Knaepen
Juan Sebastian Piedrahita Giraldo
Sebastiaan Naessens
Wendy Hens
Emeline Van Craenenbroeck
Kris Laukens
Lien Desteghe
Hein Heidbuchel
Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure
Digital Health
title Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure
title_full Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure
title_fullStr Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure
title_full_unstemmed Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure
title_short Continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease: Device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure
title_sort continuous heart rate measurements in patients with cardiac disease device comparison and development of a novel artefact removal procedure
url https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251337598
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