Wireless electrocardiographic monitoring in veterinary medicine

A comfortable option for long term monitoring of heart activity will hopefully soon be available in veterinary medicine also. This is the first report of the ECG data obtained in animals with a wireless body electrode attached to the skin and able to convey measured data to a smart device via low power Bluetooth technology. The ECG data were obtained from two dogs, one with sinus rhythm and the other with atrial fibrillation and ventricular extrasystoles. Beside determination of average heart and respiratory rates, identification of sinus rhythm, atrial fibrillation and ventricular premature complexes, the device was able to identify ventricular pre-excitation and asynchronous depolarization of ventricles. With appropriate software this device offers an immense potential for the veterinary cardiology. Due to its simplicity, long autonomy and high reliability it can substitute the conventional Holter monitoring in veterinary medicine.