Advancements in wearable technology for heart failure patients

While pharmacologic and device therapies have improved heart failure care in recent decades, age-adjusted rehospitalization rates remain largely stable. While the adoption of many implanted devices shown to reduce heart failure hospitalizations has been slow due to their invasive nature and limited insurance coverage, wearable devices such as smartwatches are noninvasive and increasingly accessible for the general population. In this review, we discuss novel developments in clinical applications of wearable devices for heart failure.

While no wearable is currently recommended for heart failure monitoring or screening, recent studies have shown promising preliminary results that suggest wearables may be used to screen for prevalent heart failure, monitor congestion levels, predict acute exacerbation events, and evaluate response to interventions. We highlight research on smartwatch-based prediction of acute exacerbations and screening for heart failure, and patch-based pulmonary capillary wedge pressure estimation.

This review aims to serve as a primer for healthcare providers and researchers on advances for use of wearable devices in patients with heart failure. If properly validated and implemented, wearables offer potential to improve quality of life and self-efficacy of patients with heart failure while reducing their hospitalization risk.