Continuous cardiac monitoring with a wearable ECG device helped identify cases of atrial fibrillation (AFib) that were not detected during hospital stays, according to preliminary findings from a study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The research, presented at Euroanaesthesia 2025, assessed whether wearable cardiac rhythm monitors could improve detection of postoperative atrial fibrillation (poAF) following cardiac surgery. The study enrolled 100 patients who underwent open-heart surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass. Participants were monitored in the hospital and then continuously for up to 14 days after discharge using a wearable ECG patch provided by the Campbell, California-based company Vivalink.

According to the researchers, 24% of patients who developed poAF had the arrhythmia first identified through the wearable monitor, rather than during their hospital stay. In most of these cases, the arrhythmia was not diagnosed through standard care until the three-month follow-up.
“It’s incredible we’re detecting arrhythmias within 14 days following discharge that otherwise wouldn’t have been caught until three months postoperatively,” said Dr. Jakob Wollborn, a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist and intensivist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “We’re learning more about how and when postoperative atrial fibrillation presents itself, so we can better inform treatment and monitoring guidelines to keep patients safe when they leave the hospital.”

AFib remains one of the most common complications following cardiac surgery, with incidence rates as high as 40% to 50%. The study’s early results suggest that wearable ECG technology may be a useful tool in identifying arrhythmias that occur outside of the hospital setting, potentially enabling earlier intervention.

The device used in the study is a small, rechargeable patch that transmits ECG data to a cloud-based platform that includes an arrhythmia detection algorithm and clinician dashboard.

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