What does a heart monitor count

[Jerry_NJ]

I suffer from full time AFib, and sometimes wear an exercise "Polar" heart rate monitor. I use the one with a chest strap.  

I wonder what the monitor is counting, or what it "sees".  I believe it detects/sees the ventricle beats, not the atrial fibrillation/flutter beats. In my case, with meds, my at rest rate is in the low 70s on my Polar monitor.  When I'm up and around it goes into the 90s and low 100s.  I assume my fibrillation/flutter is not in this count.  Anyone know?

[Jerry_NJ]

I found the following on the Polar web site, and the information is a "cut-and-paste" with full accreditation to Polar noted:
7. Arrhythmia
Polar products are not designed to detect arrhythmia or irregular rhythms and will interpret them as noise or interference. The computer in the wrist unit will make error corrections, so that arrhythmia beats are not included in the averaged beats per minute. The blinking heart symbol in the face of the unit, however, will continue to show all heart beats received. In most cases the Polar products will work fine for persons with arrhythmia.

So it seems the Polar reads the actual pump counts per minute, absent the "noise" associated with fibrillation or flutter of the atrial.  Thus, it seems the count is a good indication of the blood movement throughout the body.

Next question, should one exercise when they suffer from AFib?  I may post this as a standalone post.  I recall seeing some posts in the past talking about different heart rhythm anomalies when exercising.  I am sure my cardiologist and my EP both support doing physical exercise.  In fact as part of my last discussion with my EP, I continued to say one reason I want to get back to sinus rhythm is so that I have more energy and endurance.  I said I find it hard, including shortness of breath, to walk up a moderate hill or climb stairs, and assume if I had sinus the heart/oxygen cycle this would allow me to exercise harder.  He said some of my problem is poor physical condition, and that may be as I have not engaged in any serious exercise since my open heart surgery of last November.  I had been a jogger before that time.  

[Momto3]

I tried using the Polar monitor (with the chest strap).  Because of chronic PVCs, I could never get an accurate reading.  I'm not sure how it would handle Afib...great question!

[Jerry_NJ]

Thanks, I can say that a few samples I've taken for the exercise HR as measured against the HR displayed on the blood pressure stations see in Walmart and most supermarkets that have a pharmacy are in general agreement.  

My ED said such monitors as the Polar exercise measure ventricle beats, I guess these are strong signals...again I don't know (need to make a study it seems) how the chest strap used by the Polar exercise monitor works. It is battery powered and I don't think it "feels" the pluses, movement of the chest.  It may "see" heart "electrical" signals.  I know the blood testing stations measure the physical pulses of the blood, again I think this is ventricle beats.  

[lagoya]

as far as i know they dont pick up arrhythmias and arrhythmia's may give off wrong readings ,i have one of those for running ,but it says that on the info ,that they dont pick up or may not work propertly when an arrhythmia is present .... if it is just an excerise watch that is ,,,,,i would feel if your pulse is the same as the display that is where u are