The 28-day HeartBug monitor is a wearable ECG device designed to detect intermittent or infrequent heart rhythm abnormalities over an extended period. It continuously records the heart’s electrical activity and also allows you to trigger a recording during symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness or fainting, which significantly improves diagnostic yield compared with shorter monitors.
This form of long term ambulatory monitoring is particularly valuable for capturing arrhythmias that may not be detected with routine testing. The device is discreet, lightweight and designed to be worn comfortably throughout normal daily activities, including work and sleep. The data collected is reviewed by a cardiologist to identify clinically significant rhythm disturbances and inform further management.
The HeartBug is ideal when your symptoms are occasional, for example a few times a month, since a 24 hour test would likely miss them. It is also useful after a stroke of unclear cause, where detecting hidden atrial fibrillation can change treatment.
A small device is applied to your chest and worn continuously. You go about your normal life, including showering as advised for the specific device, and press the trigger when you feel a symptom. At the end of the monitoring period the recording is reviewed by a cardiologist.
Extended monitoring meaningfully increases diagnostic yield for infrequent palpitations, unexplained syncope, and cryptogenic stroke work up where shorter Holter studies were unremarkable. Symptom rhythm correlation and full disclosure analysis are reported by a cardiologist.
