If you’ve been experiencing symptoms like fainting, a racing heart or shortness of breath, your health care team may recommend heart monitoring. It’s important to know that heart monitors don’t treat your condition. They are often used to check for irregular heart rhythms to help your health care team provide the best care.

Types of Heart Monitors

Reasons for Heart Monitoring

Glossary

There are several different types of devices that can monitor your health data and heart rhythms. Heart monitors that you wear include Holter monitors and smart watches. These wearable devices are examples of short-term, non-continuous heart monitoring that requires consistent user attention. The LUX-Dx™ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) System is slightly different because it’s inserted just under your skin and provides longer-term, continuous monitoring over multiple years.

Your doctor may have recommended heart monitoring for one or more of the reasons below. If you have any questions about your reasons for heart monitoring, be sure to ask your health care team.

Atrial Fibrillation

An abnormal heart rhythm that occurs when the atria (upper chambers of the heart) fibrillate, which means they move quickly and in an irregular pattern. Your health care team may refer to this as AF, AFib, suspected AF, post-ablation AF monitoring or AF management.

Cryptogenic Stroke

A stroke with an unknown cause. Monitoring the heart may help your health care team find the cause.

Syncope

Also called fainting or passing out. Syncope usually happens when blood pressure is too low and the heart doesn’t pump enough oxygen to the brain.

Palpitations

Feeling like your heart is beating very quickly, fluttering or beating irregularly.

Ventricular Tachycardia

When the ventricles (lower chambers of the heart) beat faster than normal and/or in an irregular pattern.

If you have questions about any of these terms or your condition, be sure to ask your health care team.

Arrhythmia

An abnormal heartbeat that is too fast, too slow or irregular.

Heart Rhythm

A series of heartbeats. You may hear your health care team refer to your rhythm as being normal or irregular. A normal heart rate typically ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute at rest.

Insertable Cardiac Monitor

Also called an ICM, cardiac monitor, heart monitor or Implantable Loop Recorder (ILR). This small electronic device is inserted under the skin in your chest area to monitor and record your heart rhythms.

LUX-Dx ICM System

A set of parts that work together to record your heart rhythms and send them to your health care team. The system includes the ICM device, your myLUX™ Patient app and a magnet.

myLUX Patient App

Also called the app or patient app, your myLUX app is a software application used to transmit data from your ICM device to your health care team.

Transmission

The process of gathering your heart data from your ICM device and sending it to your health care team for review.  

Wi-Fi

Wireless networking technology that allows a mobile device to connect to the Internet without a wired cable connection.