Adapting Today for a Healthier Tomorrow: How HeartKey® is Helping Tackle the Global Cardiovascular Crisis

“It is not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

These timeless words by Charles Darwin resonate profoundly in today’s healthcare landscape, especially as we confront the escalating global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Cardiovascular Disease: A Rising Challenge

CVD has been the leading cause of death globally for over three decades, claiming 18 million lives annually. In the U.S., someone dies from CVD every 33 seconds. Atrial fibrillation (AFib), the most common of cardiac arrhythmias, affects over 10.5 million adults in the U.S. alone – nearly triple previous estimates – and recent research shows younger people, under the age of 65, are more at risk than previously thought.

The crisis sadly extends beyond mortality. By 2050, the global cost of managing cardiovascular conditions is expected to triple to $1.8 trillion while, simultaneously, a global cardiologist shortage is forcing primary care providers to manage complex conditions beyond their usual scope.

It is clear we are at a pivotal moment in cardiac care. But what are the solutions?

Prevention over Cure: The Role of Digital Health Technologies

Lifestyle changes and education have long been the cornerstones of CVD prevention, but with the outlook as bleak as it is, and newfound discovery around the impact of such conditions on a younger demographic, these strategies alone are unlikely to be sufficient.

Technology-driven solutions that enable early detection, proactive management, and improved patient outcomes are becoming more than a ‘nice to have’ – they are becoming essential in the fight against CVD.

Cathie Biga, President of the American College of Cardiology, recently talked of the critical role of technology in transforming cardiology, citing innovations like telehealth and real-time remote monitoring systems as proving instrumental in improving patient outcomes but also in streamlining workflows and managing costs amidst staffing shortages.

A recent case study conducted with Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility (IDTF), TZ Medical highlights how integrating B-Secur’s HeartKey® Signal Quality algorithm into clinical workflows can deliver transformative efficiencies. Ambulatory ECGs, fundamental for diagnosing and monitoring cardiac conditions, often suffer from noise and artifacts that complicate the diagnostic process. Clinicians spend significant time manually reviewing large volumes of unactionable ECG data, a process that is both time-intensive and prone to human error.

Phase one of this study^[1] achieved a 32.4% reduction in manual reviews, with less than a 0.3% risk of discarding usable data. Phase 2 further refined this approach, which resulted in a 40.6% reduction in unactionable events requiring manual review, while maintaining a specificity of 99.8%

For a healthcare professional reviewing 50 events daily, HeartKey was found to save over 17 minutes per day – enabling the review of an additional 8.6 events daily. This efficiency ensures clinicians focus on clinically relevant data, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes.

Converging Technologies

Tackling CVD, however, will take more than clinicians alone. Empowering individuals to manage their health proactively and building trust with healthcare providers is key.

Historically, medical devices and consumer wearables could not be more different. Over time, however, wearables have become increasingly medicalized. Beginning with simple step-tracking, devices like the Apple Watch, Oura Ring, and Whoop now offer a wealth of insights and data. The rapid growth of these sophisticated wearables – enabled by falling costs, increased availability, and improved functionality – has transformed their role in health monitoring.

But there is still work to do.

Fuelled by increasing health awareness and the integration of advanced technology in consumer electronics, the wearable technology market is projected to reach $198.83 bn by 2032. In B-Secur’s State of Heart Health Technology report, more than 95% of wearable users surveyed said they were willing to share their health data with medical professionals.

Yet, only 9% of healthcare providers in the same piece of research expressed satisfaction with the quality of data from consumer wearables. This highlights the urgent need for innovations like HeartKey, which close the gap between consumer expectations and provider requirements by delivering clinically reliable, high-quality data.

Bridging the gap with HeartKey®

Preventative care is becoming an urgent necessity.

By reducing noise and enhancing signal quality, HeartKey empowers consumers and healthcare professionals alike with reliable data to identify conditions like AFib early, enabling faster and more accurate diagnoses. This precision not only helps save lives but also alleviates the burden on healthcare systems strained by rising patient numbers and a shortage of cardiologists.

As we look ahead, our mission remains clear: to revolutionize cardiac care by delivering innovative, high-clarity solutions that save lives and improve healthcare efficiency. In a world where consumer and clinical technologies are converging, adapting to this shift is crucial for meeting the rising demand for scalable, actionable tools in remote and preventative care. With a commitment to precision and adaptability, we’re building a foundation for a healthier, more proactive future in heart health.

[1] https://www.heartrhythmjournal.com/article/S1547-5271(24)02995-3/fulltext