Just Regular Ol' Listening For AF

A middle-tech solution for diagnosing atrial fibrillation.

The gold-standard for diagnosis of cardiac rhythm abnormalities remains an ECG. Unfortunately, many rhythm abnormalities occur at home, the park, the pool, the gym, the mall, etc. where no ECG is available. Thus, the rise in smartphone and smartwatch diagnosis – the most popular of which is for atrial fibrillation.

But, if you don’t have a device with either electrical or pulse diagnostic capabilities, what then? Well, you just use your phone to listen to your heart beat:

Yep, this article is about a bespoke app called “FonoCheck” which does pretty much what it sounds like it does. Unsurprisingly, with a good quality sound recording, the irregular beat of atrial fibrillation can be captured and diagnosed – good enough for an initial screening to prompt follow-up.

So, this method likely lands somewhere between the inaccurate low-tech solution – feeling an irregular pulse on your own wrist or chest – and the clinic-based high-tech solution. Seems reasonable!