Many people use fitness trackers, such as smartwatches, as part of achieving a healthy lifestyle — but some cardiac patients should be aware of the risks.
Some smart scales, smart rings and wearable fitness devices that use “bioimpedance,” a sensing technology that emits a tiny unnoticeable electrical current into the body, may interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), like pacemakers and defibrillators, according to a new study.
The research was published on Feb. 21 in Heart Rhythm.
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“We found bioimpedance sensing technology available in certain consumer devices such as smart scales, smartwatches, and smart rings could interfere with the correct functioning of CIEDs,” lead author Dr. Benjamin Sanchez Terrones of Utah told Fox News Digital.
He’s an assistant professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering and member of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
CIEDs include pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), according to the American Heart Association.
The study noted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not cleared any consumer bioimpedance device for patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices because of the potential electrical interference.
Yet not all the commercially available trackers have bioimpedance sensing technology, he added.
“The FDA published a study in 2021 in the same journal as we did where they found that both the Apple iPhones and the Apple smartwatches create a magnetic interference to CIEDs when closer than 6 inches,” Sanchez Terrones noted.
“As indicated by the manufacturers of these devices and the recommendation by the American Heart Association for other devices that may also interfere, the safest [step] is not to use them by this population [who have CIEDs].”
He added that for any questions about these devices, patients should always talk to their health care providers.
“Bioimpedance sensing is a technology [in which] a tiny, painless, alternating electrical current is applied to the body by the smartwatch, smart ring, or smart scale, and used by the device to measure the body’s response,” Sanchez Terrones said.
An application of this technology is measuring body composition, “where this electrical current is used to measure hydration level and fat mass content,” he said.
Wearable fitness trackers use this sensing technology to record the level of stress or vital signs, such as heart rate or the number of steps taken every day, per the study’s press release.
Some smart scales and rings also use bioimpedance sensing, Sanchez Terrones said.
H/T Fox News (read more at FoxNews.com)
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