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Irregular heartbeats or arrhythmia, if left unchecked, is largely linked to diseases like stroke, blood clots, and heart failure. Often times, it can be difficult to detect it except when an electrocardiogram is being utilised.

With increasing technological advancement, we may soon have to simply rely on an app in smartphones to be able to read irregular heartbeats and detect heart rate abnormalities.

Dangers of Irregular heartbeats could be very devastating; as it can result in stroke, cardiac arrest and heart failure.
 
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<center>https://s14.postimg.org/ajc0uztjl/ecg-2281179_960_720.png</center><center><sub>[Source](https://pixabay.com/en/ecg-iphone-credit-card-heart-2281179/)</sub></center>

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#### How exactly does a heartbeat occur?
<div class="pull-right"><center><img src="https://s14.postimg.org/55d8n4qv5/De-_Re_entry_Cardio_Networks_ECGpedia.png" /><br/><em><sup><sup><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:De-Re_entry_(CardioNetworks_ECGpedia).png">CardioNetworks</a></sup></sup></em></center></div>The electrical conduction system of the heart is what results in a heartbeat. A heartbeat starts off as an electrical impulse from within a small tissue area in the sinus node or Sino-atrial, which is the right atrium of the heart. Both atria contracts initially due to the impulse, then it activates the atrioventricular (AV) node known as the electrical link between the atria and the main pumping chambers called the ventricles. 

The impulse spreads further through both ventricles causing a contraction of the heart muscle in a rhythmic synchrony which results in a pulse. <sub>[ref](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_conduction_system_of_the_heart)</sub>

Resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 90 beats every minute, for an adult. For children, the resting heart rate is quite faster. Athletes on the other hand can have slow resting heartrate of around 40 beats per minute, which is still accepted as normal; despite the fact that increased heart rate is the way the heart responds to emotional stress and physical exercises. 

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#### Irregular heartbeats
<div class="pull-right"><center><img src="https://s14.postimg.org/n9g98a44h/46e15640-dbb0-4cb5-a077-d69a45cb40a6.jpg" /><br/><em><sup><sup><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2024_Cardiac_Arrhythmias.jpg">Cardiac Arrhythmias</a></sup></sup></em></center></div> 

An [irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_arrhythmia) or heart arrhythmia simply refers to the problem of an abnormal rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. 

Such condition means that the heart can beat too quickly, too slowly, or even irregularly. 

Tachycardia is when the heart beats too fast above normal (in adults, more than 100 beats per minute). 

Bradycardia is when the heart beats too slowly below normal (less than 60 beats per minute).

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#### How frequent does the heart beat for an average person?
On a daily basis, the heart of an average person beats by the normal expanding and contracting, 100,000 times, thereby pumping about 2000 gallons of blood coursing through our body. An average human heart beats over 2.5 billion times in a 70-year lifetime.

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#### Detecting heart beat irregularity or arrhythmia 
Studies in 2011 by a team of scientists from the University of Turku and the Turku University Hospital in Finland, was centred on discovering if small accelerometers could be efficiently used to detect significant chest movements linked to atrial fibrillation. The research did show that small accelerometers could detect chest abnormalities related to atrial fibrillation, and the scientists worked further to ascertain if the accelerometers present in smartphones could also function in same manner.

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#### The new smartphone app and its detective function?
Scientists led by Tero Koivisto, recently developed an app that simply functions by placing a phone on a patient’s chest, and it would detect and analyse heart palpitations and micromovements caused by heartbeat. 

Using the app, a [blind study](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinded_experiment) carried out on 300 patients half of whom suffered from atrial fibrillation, from the Turku Hospital, showcased 96 percent accuracy in detection of the condition, even when a lot of the patients had other heart conditions.



#### Using the app, and other application areas
A further development on the app is now being carried out by a company called Precordior Ltd, in order to commercialize the app. The tech breakthrough means that patients, doctors, medical staff in hospitals, both in developed and developing countries and indeed anyone can use the app to check and ascertain their own heart conditions, to know their heart status.

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#### A similar technological advancement
A similar tech innovation has also seen scientists from the Chinese University of Hong Kong  create an app that detects atrial fibrillation, however, it utilizes the phone camera to ascertain changes in patients skin colour, which can indicate heart rate palpitations and fluctuations.

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#### Conclusion
The new app which can detect arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) which results in strokes. Based on the technology behind the app, which features small accelerometers, with the mobile phone application can carry out its detection without any extra equipment, by just simply placing the smartphone of the chest, for the app to analyse heart rates. 

With the techology set to be commercialized and launched mainstream, the mobile application would go along way in saving countless lives all over the world. This is because the timely and prompt diagnosis of atrial fibrillation and itsc subsequent treatment and medication, is without a doubt, a crucial procedure towards effective prevention of stroke, heart failure, and cardiac arrests.

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*Reference: [[1](http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2018/03/05/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032804)], [[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_arrhythmia)], [[3](http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Arrhythmia/AboutArrhythmia/About-Arrhythmia_UCM_002010_Article.jsp#.WrBJqujwbIV)], [[4](http://www.utu.fi/en/news/news/Pages/Mobile-Application-Detecting-Atrial-Fibrillation-Reduces-the-Risk-of-Stroke.aspx)]*

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