I have a couple of things bothering me about my Kardia mobile device. Quite often when I try to get a reading, Kardia gives me the ...interference error message, despite having no obvious electrical causes nearby. When I ask my husband to test his heart on the device, he often gets a normal reading. Could this message be spurious and is more to do with my heart giving weird signals? I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.
This leads me to another quandary. I sometimes get 'unclassified' message, meaning that there is an issue, but my Kardia version is not equipped to deal with it. I am often prompted by Kardia to upgrade to a version available on subscription which can detect three more types of Arrhythmia. Although this would be much more expensive, I am wondering if I need to do this. Obviously, I will be bringing all this up with my EP the next time I see him, but I'm interested if anyone has any comments on the matter.
Written by
Cablecar
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Kardia is a usful device but it is important to get on with life and not let it dominate.. The most common problem is poor connection. Always moistening your fingers with sanitiser before use will elminate most errors.
There is a huge difference between letting a device dominate your life and expecting it to produce a reading to determine if you need to take a “Pill in a pocket” or not!
My Kardia also gives me an “Interference” message about 80% of the times I try to use it - which isn’t what I want when trying to use the device to find out if I’m in AF or not.
Apparently it can be effected by muscle tension in the fingers and wrists. When my granddaughter was staying with us she wanted to try it but we could never get it to work for her despite it giving readings for myself and my husband with no problems. This was one of the probkems it mentioned on the Kardia website. She is a guitar player so maybe that had something to do with it!
"Unclassified" can mean a number of things, but it can often be resolved by just taking the EKG again. If you continually get the unclassified reading, show the EKG to your EP for further analysis. Upgrading to Kardia care is another option that might help. I also find that the 6L model has less interference, which can also sometimes contribute to an unclassified reading. Keeping the leads clean and your fingers moistened can also help. Never have your phone plugged into a charger when you take an EKG.
Kardia is an outstanding tool, but some people expect too much out of it which can lead to stress and frustration. To fill in the gap you need a good cardiologist ep who will work with you to help analyze some tracings. Kardia care can also be helpful here, with their live cardiologist consultations, often within hours.
Is your Kardia rechargable? My Kardia 6L doesn't plug into a charger, there's nowhere to plug it in. I assumed I'd be able to change the battery at some point if needed, the plate on the back has two tiny screws.
I have the upgrade free as an ‘early adopter’ but I can’t see how it would help with interference issues. All my readings are ‘Unclassified’ - no idea why and I haven’t asked, but Kardia doesn’t give me any more information than that.
Just to answer Ilovedogs, I have had to replace the button battery on my Kardia. You undo both those little screws and I purchased a new battery in our supermarket. Its very easy to do.
On should you upgrade, I would be reluctant to do this as I have read that some people are very unsatisfied with the extra features and cost. I did find my Kardia acting up so I rub a little water over the metal part that touches your leg and my fingers and it works perfectly.
After a number of unclassified readings, I signed up for the extras. I paid £9.99 a month, got some readings then cancelled the subscription. The readings were all 'supraventricular ...' ( sorry, can't remember the rest) and each time I was advised to discuss with my own cardiologist.
TBH, the cost was not huge as I only paid long enough to satisfy my curiosity, but the service was good in that I got responses really quickly.
Is this the 6L? If so, there might be a fault as this uses Bluetooth, which generally connects error free. If you have the Kardia single lead, it uses a more potentially troublesome "ultrasound" type link to connect to the software app.
I eventually switched to a different make as the extra cost a month provided me with no useful information and was frustrating. There are other products that provide similar AI type analysis, but more extensive and freely. I have both the Wellue and the Contec / EMay 6-lead and like them both and have never had a poor reading once the device has settled.
That’s interesting as the Kardia website explains that it uses a “proprietary wireless communication protocol” rather than BT. I’ve never seen one but I’ve read that it’s the equal of the 6L in accuracy and usefulness.
My wife uses a Kardia 6L and used to get noisy traces (whereas mine were always clean looking) - same room, same time. We eventually found that if she dabbed her fingers on her tongue first and moistened her knee too it was far better. She must have naturally dryer skin than me.
Her battery has been showing low (amber) for a few months now and the device is still performing fine.
Re. Unclassified, we normally view the trace and form our own views (but we've also read a lot of online material about ECG interpretation too). Unclassified in our case is usually when she's had some ectopics during the trace (which are easy to spot once someone explains what they are on yiur trace), and we can see the rest is NSR.
My Kardia readings are mostly unclassified and I've put this down to my LBBB as I'm guessing Kardia isn't programed to recognise this so by default just says unclassified - just my thoughts. As far as interference goes, I keep very still whilst it's recording which helps to eliminate any strange scribbles.
I’m impressed you get to see an RP regularly! I only saw one privately when the lowest dose of Bisoprolol proved too much for me to take daily and my surgery didn’t come up with anything else!
The older single trace Kardia does give more trouble getting a trace when the battery is dying, so it might be worth trying a new one. I would guess though that a better contact needed is the likely problem. As others have said, don't have your phone on charge or other peoples phones in the vicinity when taking a reading, keep away from microwave ovens and sit as still and relaxed as you can manage. Muscular contractions anywhere will cause another signal to be screened out by the algorithm, even tapping your feet to music.
The single trace Kardia will work better with the phone in airplane mode, but the 6L will not work at all like that unless you turn the Bluetooth back on.
We have had a lot of discussion on this subject in the past.What I have gathered is always ensure good (or excellent) contact with fingers, 6L is better (more data) than 3L, it is not worth it to upgrade as it takes an expert to interrupt the readings, don't get fixated on doing regular readings as you most likely can't interpret the results, when a result such as 'unclassified' occurs contact the device supplier for explanation.
I use it infrequently and only get concerned if significant difference.
Mind you, my device always says 'possibility of AFib' every time (in 5+years) and I hardly ever notice AFib activity.
I found it impossible to get a reading from my Kardia Mobile when using on my bedside table, because of interference. I can however get good readings elsewhere, once I lick my fingers. The only difference is that I have a DAB clock radio close by on the bedside table. I have assumed that is the cause of the interference even though it is switched off!
The lesson, I think, is that the KardiaMobile is very sensitive to electrical noise, presumably because it doesn't use BlueTooth. Perhaps best way forward is to find a location that works for you and use that each time you need an ECG.
Quite a few people have said moistening the fingers does the trick, and I've found that it also works for me. I don't know why that should be. Maybe it helps with conduction.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Kardia advice please
Fitbit & Kardia disagree ….
Problems using the Kardia 6L
Kardia
Kardia message: Sinus Rhythm with Supraventricular Ectopy.
