AI system
- System
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Smartwatch heart-rate and irregular-rhythm alert (brand and model not stated)
- Model
-
Not assessed
- Release
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Not assessed
- Application developer
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Not stated (the report does not name the device's maker)
- Role
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Not assessed
- Configuration
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Not assessed
- Inputs and outputs
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Not assessed
- Autonomy
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Not assessed
- Workflow
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An asymptomatic wearer whose smartwatch alerted to an irregular rate above 180 bpm and who took it to his GP. A cardiologist willing to diagnose from the watch's stored data when hospital tracings were silent. A procedure (ICD insertion) whose routine follow-up imaging happened to cover the lung.
- Human oversight
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Not assessed
- Relation to AI
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The watch's alert in an asymptomatic man started the chain. Its stored data were what the cardiologist used to diagnose NSVT when hospital tracings captured nothing. The lung cancer was found by a routine post-ICD X-ray, not by the device. The brand is unknown, so the alerting algorithm cannot be identified. The authors describe smartwatch rhythm monitoring generically as photoplethysmography.
- AI contribution
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The watch's alert in an asymptomatic man started the chain. Its stored data were what the cardiologist used to diagnose NSVT when hospital tracings captured nothing. The lung cancer was found by a routine post-ICD X-ray, not by the device. The brand is unknown, so the alerting algorithm cannot be identified. The authors describe smartwatch rhythm monitoring generically as photoplethysmography.
Benefits
- Outcome identifiers
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Not assessed
- Benefit
-
found a 28 mm lung adenocarcinoma, resected
- Category
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Improved Physical Health
- Status
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Not assessed
- Beneficiary groups
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People.
- Beneficiaries
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Not assessed
- Reach
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Not assessed
- Distribution and access
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Not assessed
- Duration
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Not assessed
- Expected?
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No
- Costs and harms
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Not assessed
Measurement
- Studies
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Not assessed
- Study design
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Not assessed
- Measurement
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Not assessed
- Setting and sample
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Not assessed
- Measures
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found a 28 mm lung adenocarcinoma, resected
- Comparison
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Assumed alternative: no smartwatch (the authors' counterfactual for the same patient)
- Results
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Assumed comparison. Reference: his lung adenocarcinoma would have continued to grow undetected, curative surgery may not have been an option. Result: The upper lobe adenocarcinoma measured 35 mm and was staged as pT2a pN0 M0 with clear resection margins.
- Additional value from AI
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Not assessed
- Limitations
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Not assessed
- Denominators
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Not assessed
- Materials for replication
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Not assessed
Money
- Kind of value
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Not assessed
- Amount
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Not assessed
- Currency and prices
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Not assessed
- Period and unit
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Not assessed
- Realization
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Not assessed
- Recipients and payers
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Not assessed
- Gross or net
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Not assessed
- Included costs
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Not assessed
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Method
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Not assessed
- Return and payback
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Not assessed
People and places
- Participants
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Developer: Not stated (the report does not name the device's maker).
- Jurisdictions
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Benefit:
United Kingdom (authors at St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, London, and East Surrey Hospital, Redhill; the treating hospitals are not named). - Ownership and control
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Not assessed
- Dependencies
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Not assessed
- Cross-border connections
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Not assessed
- Geopolitical implications
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Not assessed
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The arrhythmia is one the watch records while hospital monitoring misses it. The incidental finding is in the field of the post-procedure X-ray and caught early enough for curative surgery. The authors cite an estimated 1 in 25 cancers diagnosed incidentally.
- Replication attempts
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Not assessed
- Later findings
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Nothing later than the January 2022 case report was found; the paper reports no follow-up beyond discharge on the tenth postoperative day and an outpatient cardiac MRI.
- Availability
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Not assessed
- Institutional decision
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Not assessed
- Grounds
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Not assessed
- Action and result
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Not assessed
- Success criterion
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Not assessed
Evidence
- Source numbers
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AIBD-0290-source-0001–0004
- Citations
-
Numbered references below.
- Language
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Not assessed
- Source relationships
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Independent
- Original evidence
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Not assessed
- Access and versions
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Not assessed
- Supported findings
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Not assessed
- Evidence links
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Not assessed
- Evidence strength
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Not assessed
- Missing evidence
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Not assessed
Grades
- Assessed benefits
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People.
- Depth
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People: 3.
- Reasons
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People: One man received an ICD for ventricular tachycardia and curative resection of a lung adenocarcinoma found at stage pT2a pN0. The authors judge that without the watch the cancer would likely have grown undetected and curative surgery might not have been an option. That counterfactual is their judgment.
- Observed or intended
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Not assessed
- Rubric
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Not assessed
- Assessor and date
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Not assessed
- Alternative assessments
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Not assessed
- Fill
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Independently studied
Entry details
- Kind
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Not assessed
- Related entries
-
Not assessed
- Field
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Healthcare (cardiology; thoracic oncology). Consumer wearables.
- Purpose
-
The watch's heart-rate alert was its intended function. The lung cancer diagnosis was an incidental consequence of the ICD procedure the alert set in motion, outside anything the device was built to do.
- Dates
-
Date basis unassessed: 2022 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
- Stage
-
Not assessed
- Version
-
SHA-256: edfbcdfdd559…
References
- Other identifiers
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Not assessed
- Category mappings
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Not assessed
- Brief
-
Not assessed
- Revisions
-
4 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.
Sources
-
Case report Independent author
Cole APC, Kar A, Nimako K, Smelt J (2022). Smartwatch helps detects lung cancer: Using personal technology to advance healthcare. JRSM Open 13(1):20542704211068651. doi:10.1177/20542704211068651 (PMC8733372).
was alerted by his smartwatch that his heart rate was irregular and exceeding 180 beats-per-minute, he remained asymptomatic throughout
Using the results from his smartwatch, the cardiologist diagnosed non-sustained ventricular tachycardia and he subsequently had an Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator inserted.
A post procedure Chest X-ray ruled out iatrogenic pneumothorax but this incidentally showed an abnormality in his right upper lung zone
it is likely without his smartwatch his lung adenocarcinoma would have continued to grow undetected, curative surgery may not have been an option