Updated 02 April 2023
We have a functioning prototype of a seizure detector based on one of the Fitbit smart watches (Versa or Versa 2) – I have got a Versa to test it on. Note that at the moment it is not likely to work on a Versa 3 or Sense – if you have one of these, let me know and I’ll build a version for it.
The watch app is very simple – it just collects 5 seconds of accelerometer and heart rate data, and sends it to the OpenSeizureDetector phone app for analysis. This is the same way that the Garmin Seizure Detector is working.
I have a lot of reliability issues with the connection between the Fitbit watch and the phone, which I do not see with Garmin, so do not buy a Fitbit watch specially to try OpenSeizureDetector, (if you are buying a watch, go for a Garmin VenuSQ). If anyone has a Fitbit Versa, it would be really good if you could try this out and feed back any experiences so we can get it working reliably.
To install the watch app on your Fitbit Versa (incl. Versa Lite and Versa 2),
- Install the latest version of the Fitbit App from Google Play Store
- Use the Fitbit app to pair the watch to the phone, following Fitbit’s instructions
- Select the following link on your phone: https://gam.fitbit.com/gallery/app/2d3a7634-40cd-41ee-a00e-a759de2ac675. This should open the Fitbit phone app and install the OpenSeizureDetector fitbit_sd app on your watch.
- Start the OpenSeizureDetector phone app.
- Go into the settings screen, and in General Settings, select the ‘Garmin’ Data source (the Garmin and Fitbit watch apps do exactly the same thing, so the Fitbit one is pretending to be a Garmin).
- In the seizure detector settings, select the Heart Rate alarm function (so it will alarm on either abnormal movement, or heart rate).
- On the watch, start the FitbitSD app.
Then on the watch, select the fitbit_sd app – you should see a screen like this on the watch, with some extra text at the bottom showing the status of communications between the watch and the phone.
You should see the OpenSeizureDetector phone app updating, and showing ‘ok’ to signify it is receiving data. Shaking the watch to simulate a seizure should raise a warning then alarm on the phone (you do not see anything change on the watch screen)
The problem I have with it is that it suddenly stops updating and the OpenSeizureDetector phone app shows ‘Fault’…. On my phone I can fix this by opening the Fitbit app on the phone – this synchronises the watch and the phone, and seems to re-set the communications so the fault clears after 5-10 seconds.
If you try this, please feed back your experiences to graham@openseizuredetector.org.uk