Using a wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) patch adapted for 7-day monitoring in the horse.

Overview

• This study evaluated a new wearable single-use electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor, the Cardea SOLO™ (CS), for continuous 7-day heart rhythm monitoring in horses, comparing its performance to the current standard device, Televet.
• The goal was to determine if the CS provided reliable arrhythmia detection and ECG signal quality over a prolonged period in healthy horses.

Background

• Arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) in horses can cause poor athletic performance and, in some cases, sudden death.
• Detecting arrhythmias often requires long-term ECG monitoring, as short recordings may miss transient events.
• The Televet device is the current gold standard for equine ECG monitoring but has limitations in ease of use, size, or monitoring duration.
• The Cardea SOLO™ (CS) is a newer, single-use wearable ECG patch with automated analysis that can monitor continuously for up to 7 days, potentially improving convenience and detection.

Study Objective

• To validate the performance of the Cardea SOLO™ (CS) ECG device by comparing it against the Televet device in healthy horses.
• Specifically, the study measured the accuracy of arrhythmia detection, quality of ECG recordings, and performance of ECG standard measurements.

Methods

• Twelve healthy horses were monitored simultaneously by both the CS and Televet devices for 24 hours on day 1 and day 7.
• The CS was left attached for the entire 7-day period to evaluate its long-term recording ability.
• ECG recordings were manually reviewed to assess:
  • Correct vs. incorrect classifications of heartbeats, including premature complexes (extra heartbeats).
  • Proportion of unusable (unreadable) ECG data per device.
• Statistical analyses:
  • Generalized linear models compared arrhythmia classification accuracy and data quality between devices.
  • Bland-Altman plots and correlation analysis evaluated agreement on standard ECG measurements in a subset of 8 horses (due to challenges synchronizing device start times).

Results

• The CS device successfully recorded and analyzed ECG signals for up to 7 days in all horses without causing any adverse effects.
• However, the quality (proportion of readable ECG data) from the CS device decreased notably after 5 days of continuous wear.
• The CS identified more false positive premature complexes (incorrectly labeling normal beats as premature) compared to the Televet.
• Correlation of standard ECG measurements (such as heart rate, intervals) between CS and Televet ranged from good to excellent, indicating reasonable measurement agreement.

Limitations

• Small sample size of only 12 horses limited the strength of conclusions.
• Difficulty in starting both devices simultaneously reduced the subset for direct ECG measurement comparison to 8 horses.
• The CS is a single-lead ECG device, which may limit its ability to accurately classify specific types of premature heartbeats compared to multi-lead systems like Televet.

Conclusions

• The Cardea SOLO™ device is effective for continuous ECG monitoring and the detection of arrhythmias in healthy horses for up to 5 days.
• Its performance decreases after 5 days, suggesting optimal monitoring duration is 5 days rather than the full 7 days.
• While the CS provides automated analysis and convenience, it shows more false positives in detecting premature beats, likely due to its single-lead design.
• Further studies are needed to evaluate its utility for identifying pathological arrhythmias in clinical (diseased) horses.
• Overall, the CS offers a promising, less invasive tool for longer-term cardiac monitoring in horses, potentially improving arrhythmia screening and veterinary care.