I have a kardia monitor (1 lead not 6) and I have difficulty getting an artefact free recording. Between successive beats the base line is not smooth and all examples from alivecor show a fairly steady line. I sent a couple of traces to the arrhythmia nurses because I wasn't sure whether the resulting traces showed a problem or not. The response I got from the nurse was that she thought it was 1 thing but my ep thinks it is just artefacts and not a problem. I am doing everything Alive Cor recommend for getting artefact free traces including dampening my fingers but doesn't help.
My question to you who have the single lead version, is this common?
For those who have the 6 lead version, are the traces artefact free? The difference between the 2 versions as I understand it is that the 1 lead uses the microphone and the 6 lead uses bluetooth.
If anyone has both do you see better quality from the 6 lead?
Written by
stagecoach
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I can't get a nice smooth recording no matter what I do (or don't). My husband's trace looks like the classic example. All the rest of the family get variations on the 'classic' rhythm strip.
Mine never gave any sort of sensible readings more than about 10 % of the time but it was one of the very first into UK and given to me for trail purposes. It's still in a drawer somewhere but the phone it was linked to died ages ago.
I have occasionally had this with my readings it could be caused by being in the same area as electrical equipment or traffic.
I go into the quietest bedroom in the house where there is no TV or radio or anything electrical like you I lick my fingertips sit quietly and take the reading its almost always clear but not often normal rhythm
Hi Stagecoach, yes I have been using a 1 lead. Alivecor for 18 months, and like you, rarely have a totally flat baseline. (Cf my husband whose tracing is the classic flat ECG )
Naturally the baseline tremor was worse last month on our cruise ship with the stabilisers on I do still get Atrial ectopics, which wander along and so it Was often hard to differentiate them from Artefactual interference.
So, I mainly use the alivecor when I feel a bit off. This often correlates with
The appearance of more irregular variation in the RR rhythmn (ie distance between ventricular contractions ) which tends to correlate pretty well with me being in or approaching AF. ( and getting this result by the Alivecor).
However, thanks to the advice given on this site, I am more intrigued, than stressed by the Alivecor readings.
The Kardia is very sensitive to electrical interference. I often have had to move, even just a few feet helps. Like the others I seldom get a completely smooth trace. To be fair it hardly matters, as like most I am only really interested in my real heart rate and whether I have Afib. ECG's to be really useful to a clinician really have to be taken on a multi lead hospital machine.
I agree with Colin the Yachtsman. The main value of my Kardia (after two years six months use) is to tell me that the feelings I'm getting are in fact AF and not something else, and record keeping. I'm pretty good now at detecting AF without it, but nevertheless it's of value to have a recording that is date and time stamped to prove it's existence, and to keep a check on how often/when.
As to artefacts, the worst recording I ever made was in a very noisy restaurant. So yes, the environment has an effect. I can't get a clean reading in the kitchen if the kitchen is in use (microwave, extractor fan, fan oven, whatever) and any one else's mobile in the area can interfere. It helps enormously not to have any other tension in your body. Muscle use has it's own electrical signals, and if you are holding your arms up or keeping your balance with your legs etc. then these can contribute to the trace. I find resting my arms on a table helps, and keeping both feet flat on the floor in a supportive chair.
Thanks for all of your comments. I am in the ablation blank period and I'm using the monitor to assess my progress, not for whether I have AF but has anything else crept in (like ectopic beats) and to keep an eye on my heart rate.
Thanks for the muscle interference comment, momist. there is something I can try there.
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I do still get Atrial ectopics, which wander along and so it Was often hard to differentiate them from Artefactual interference. 
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