University of Washington researchers have found a new way to track irregular heartbeat – using smart speakers like Amazon Alexa or Google Home to detect variations in heart rate.
THE Washington Post reports that researchers at the University of Washington claim to have developed a non-contact way to track irregular heartbeats using smart speakers. Analysts have developed an AI-powered system that takes advantage of consumer smart speakers, such as products from Amazon and Google, to capture vibrations caused by movements near the chest wall.
Cardiac tracking technology can be used to improve the way doctors and medical professionals conduct telemedicine consultations, providing them with data that would otherwise require wearable health trackers or an in-person check-up.
The researchers intended to use devices that people already had access to take cardiology and health monitoring into the future, said Arun Sridhar, assistant professor of cardiology at UW.
Shyam Gollakota, professor of computer science at UW and co-author of the new report, stated: “We have Google and Alexa in our homes around us. We use them predominantly to wake us up in the morning or to play music. The question we are asking is: can we use the smart speaker for something more useful. “
The researchers believe that smart speaker manufacturers can integrate new heartbeat tracking features into their products through software updates. The system works by emitting audio signals to the room at a volume that humans cannot hear, as the pulse returns to the speaker, an algorithm identifies the beat patterns generated in a human’s chest wall. A second algorithm determines the amount of time between two heartbeats.
This information, called heartbeat intervals, can help doctors assess how well an individual’s heart is functioning. The researchers trained the smart speakers to pick up regular and irregular heart rhythms.
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