Galaxy Fit pulse of 188 bpm leads to WPW diagnosis and ablation

AI system

System: Samsung Galaxy Fit heart-rate monitor and Galaxy Watch ECG app
Model: Not assessed
Release: Exact release not established.
Application developer: Samsung Electronics
Role: The wearable recorded the rapid heart-rate episode for later clinical assessment.
Configuration: The initial event involved a Galaxy Fit SM-R370. A later report involved a Galaxy Watch Series 4.
Inputs and outputs: Not assessed
Autonomy: Not assessed
Workflow: The wearer uses a Samsung Galaxy band or watch with heart-rate tracking or the ECG app. A symptomatic arrhythmia occurs while the device is worn and the reading or trace is shown to a clinician. A clinician confirms the rhythm and treats it.
Human oversight: Not assessed
Relation to AI: The band's heart-rate algorithm recorded the 188 bpm episode that documented the tachycardia. Clinicians diagnosed WPW on a 12-lead ECG and performed the ablation. The echo relied on the Galaxy Watch ECG app's trace, read by cardiologists.
AI contribution: The band's heart-rate algorithm recorded the 188 bpm episode that documented the tachycardia. Clinicians diagnosed WPW on a 12-lead ECG and performed the ablation. The echo relied on the Galaxy Watch ECG app's trace, read by cardiologists.

Benefits

Outcome identifiers: Not assessed
Benefit: recorded a peak resting pulse rate of 188 beats per minute
Category: Improved Physical Health
Status: Not assessed
Beneficiary groups: People.
Beneficiaries: Not assessed
Reach: Not assessed
Distribution and access: Not assessed
Duration: Not assessed
Expected?: Yes
Costs and harms: Not assessed

Measurement

Studies: Not assessed
Study design: Not assessed
Measurement: Not assessed
Setting and sample: Not assessed
Measures: recorded a peak resting pulse rate of 188 beats per minute
Comparison: Not assessed
Results: recorded a peak resting pulse rate of 188 beats per minute
Additional value from AI: Not assessed
Limitations: Not assessed
Denominators: Not assessed
Materials for replication: Not assessed

Money

Kind of value: Not assessed
Amount: Not assessed
Currency and prices: Not assessed
Period and unit: Not assessed
Realization: Not assessed
Recipients and payers: Not assessed
Gross or net: Not assessed
Included costs: Not assessed
Comparison: Not assessed
Method: Not assessed
Return and payback: Not assessed

People and places

Participants: Developer: Samsung Electronics.
Jurisdictions: Developer: South Korea.
Ownership and control: Not assessed
Dependencies: Not assessed
Cross-border connections: Not assessed
Geopolitical implications: Not assessed

Follow-up

Conditions for replication: The device recording is reviewed promptly. A 12-lead ECG or inpatient monitoring is available for confirmation. Definitive therapy (ablation, drugs, device) is accessible.
Replication attempts: 1 follow-up entries. Benefit recurred: 1.
Later findings: 24 March 2021. After catheter ablation on 29 June 2020 the patient kept using a smartwatch to monitor for recurrence, as the case report published in March 2021 records.
Availability: Not assessed
Institutional decision: Not assessed
Grounds: Not assessed
Action and result: Not assessed
Success criterion: Not assessed

Evidence

Source numbers: AIBD-0024-source-0001–0003
Citations: Numbered references below.
Language: Not assessed
Source relationships: Independent
Original evidence: Not assessed
Access and versions: Not assessed
Supported findings: Not assessed
Evidence links: Not assessed
Evidence strength: Not assessed
Missing evidence: Not assessed

Grades

Assessed benefits: People.
Depth: People: 2.
Reasons: People: A young worker's band documented a 188 bpm tachycardia. With a routine ECG showing WPW the next day and her symptoms, it backed referral for electrophysiology study. Successful radiofrequency catheter ablation came 11 days after the recorded episode. A material benefit to one person, though the diagnosis itself came from the routine ECG.
Observed or intended: Not assessed
Rubric: Not assessed
Assessor and date: Not assessed
Alternative assessments: Not assessed
Fill: Independently studied

Entry details

Kind

Not assessed

Related entries

No Samsung wearable incident exists; the nearest wearable false alarm is Apple Watch Crash Detection misclassifying skiing and dialing 911, harming watch users and dispatchers, the inverse of a Galaxy Fit's true 188 bpm detection.

Field

Healthcare (cardiology; occupational medicine). Consumer wearables.

Purpose

The Galaxy Fit's optical sensor is built to track heart rate, and the Galaxy Watch ECG app to record single-lead ECGs for rhythm assessment. The benefit came from those functions.

Dates

Date basis unassessed: 2020 (precision unassessed). Updated: 22 October 2026.

Stage

Not assessed

Version

SHA-256: 67a92f155e7f…

References

Other identifiers: AI Incident Database: 463.
Category mappings: Not assessed
Brief: Not assessed
Revisions: 8 revisions. Latest: 22 October 2026.

Sources

Peer-reviewed study Independent author

Bogár B et al. (2024). Detection of Arrhythmias Using Smartwatches—A Systematic Literature Review. Healthcare 12(9):892.
Case report Independent author

Mun E, Hong J, Kwon S, Lee SH, Kim W, Lee C (2021). Digital health care and arrhythmia: a case of WPW syndrome in South Korea, 2020. Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 33:e8. (Authors at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine; hospital staff, not Samsung Electronics.)
Case report Independent author

Avidan Y, Tabachnikov V, Danon A, Schliamser JE (2024). Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia Detected by a Smartwatch in a Patient With Recurrent Syncope. JACC: Case Reports.