Digital healthcare company iRhythm has launched its Zio service in the UK to support the identification and clinical diagnoses of cardiac arrythmias such as atrial fibrillation (AF).

The Zio system is a small wearable heart monitor that attaches to the patient’s chest for a period of up to 14 days – providing monitoring of a patient’s heartbeats as they go about their daily lives, including showering, sleeping and exercising.

Underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI), the Zio patch detects arrhythmias, such as AF without the need for numerous patient visits. Between June and August 2019, iRhythm identified an arrhythmia in 72% of patients that were issued monitors, with nearly one in 10 then going on to be diagnosed with AF.

Justin Hall, VP and GM EMEA at iRhythm Technologies, said: “AF is one of the most important preventable risk factors for stroke disease. Patients who suffer an AF-related stroke often have poor outcomes – and we’re launching in the UK to change that. With access to such innovative digital technologies – which utilise AI to accurately and efficiently aid detection and diagnosis of arrhythmias, such as AF, at the first time of asking, we can eliminate the need for numerous patient visits due to indeterminate repeat tests, as well as significantly improving the patient experience.

“Compared to traditional cardiac monitoring devices, the Zio service streamlines the patient diagnostic journey – ensuring patients and clinicians get the answers they need for the right treatment path.”

Around 1.2 million people in the UK are registered with atrial fibrillation, with nearly half a million (422,600) predicted to have AF undiagnosed according to Public Health England. AF is known to increase a patient’s stroke risk by five times, contributing to just under one in five strokes in the UK. There are more than 100,000 strokes in the UK each year, causing 38,000 deaths, making it a leading cause of death and disability.