How Wearable ECG Patches Improve Postoperative AFib Detection

Challenges of Detecting AFib After Cardiac Surgery

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is one of the most common issues after cardiac surgery, affecting 30% to 50% of patients. Hospitals identify many cases during the initial recovery period, but once monitoring ends at discharge, new episodes of AFib can surface unnoticed.  

Without continuous monitoring, providers may not diagnose arrhythmias until months later, if ever. For clinicians, that means missed chances to intervene. For researchers, it leaves a blind spot in understanding recovery and assessing risk. A new study investigated whether wearable devices could capture AFib episodes that occur after patients leave the hospital.

In this blog, we will cover:

• What a recent study revealed about AFib detection after hospital discharge
• Why remote monitoring provides a more complete picture of recovery and outcomes
• How continuous data supports both clinical care and FDA research requirements

Study Spotlight: Wearable ECG Patches Reveal Missed AFib Episodes

When AFib goes unnoticed, the consequences can be immediate and serious. It raises the risk of stroke and often requires blood thinners, which increase the chance of bleeding complications. Most patients leave the hospital within a week of surgery, but the physiologic stress that drives AFib doesn’t end at discharge. 

A new study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital set out to measure what hospitals might be missing once patients leave. The study enrolled 100 patients recovering from open-heart surgery. At discharge, each patient was given a Vivalink ECG patch to wear for two weeks at home.

While 42% of patients developed AFib in the hospital, another 27% showed episodes only after going home. In nearly a quarter of all cases, the first sign of AFib appeared only after discharge. Many of the AFib events detected were intermittent and lasted less than five minutes — too short to be picked up by routine in-hospital monitoring or periodic clinic visits. 

Why Remote Cardiac Monitoring Matters for Outcomes Research

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) makes it possible to study AFib in greater detail, including when it starts, how often it occurs, and how long episodes last. That level of insight helps identify patients at risk sooner and allows for earlier intervention before complications escalate.

While this study focused on cardiac surgery, the implications reach much further. Remote monitoring could replace bulky inpatient telemetry, inform preoperative risk assessment, and link post-discharge AFib to long-term outcomes. Future research may even use wearables to capture additional data, such as mobility, that reflect recovery in more nuanced ways.

Broader Implications for Clinical Research

Cardiac safety monitoring is a cornerstone of clinical trials. Because arrhythmias can signal safety risks for new drugs and devices, the FDA requires sponsors to capture and analyze them in many studies. Traditionally, that data has come from hospitals or controlled research sites, which limits both the scope and duration of monitoring.

This type of research lays the groundwork for what comes next in cardiac care. Extending monitoring into recovery could reshape trial design, reduce reliance on prolonged inpatient stays, and give regulators stronger data to evaluate cardiac safety. That evidence strengthens the understanding of POAF and sheds light on recurrence and long-term outcomes. 

Vivalink is building on this momentum with continual innovation. Most recently, we introduced a new ECG sensor adhesive that improves p-wave signal detection by up to 160%. The advancement helps clinicians spot atrial abnormalities earlier and gives trial sponsors greater confidence in the integrity of their data.