This article provides a comprehensive overview of both legacy and enhanced BBI methods, offering insights for researchers and data scientists, whether you've used Garmin's BBI in the past or are new to this type of data collection.
In this intro to Enhanced BBI for Garmin devices, we'll cover:
- Definition of beat-to-beat interval (BBI)
- Legacy BBI method
- Enhanced BBI overview
- Using Enhanced BBI in Labfront
- Getting started
- Analysis
- Sample data
- Recommendations for better data accuracy
- FAQs
What is BBI?
The Beat-to-Beat Interval (BBI) is the time between consecutive heartbeats measured by photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors, which detect blood volume changes in the arteries. Unlike ECG measurements that capture the heart's electrical activity, BBI focuses on the physical pulse waves at peripheral sites like the wrist. BBI is essential for calculating Heart Rate Variability (HRV) metrics, offering insights into heart health and autonomic nervous system functioning. Devices with PPG sensors, such as Garmin wearables, can directly measure BBI and help analyze HRV for health monitoring.
Learn more in Labfront Academy→
Legacy BBI Method
Garmin's initial BBI system was designed to ensure continuous heartbeat measurement, even with suboptimal signal quality from the wearable device. However, this necessitated additional signal filtering, which sometimes reduced the system's ability to capture the full range of HRV, particularly affecting the measurement of RMSSD, an important HRV metric.
Enhanced BBI
The Enhanced BBI method improves upon the legacy system by preserving more of the original heartbeat information, thereby allowing for more accurate detection of HRV's higher frequency components. Additionally, it introduces a confidence score for each heartbeat measurement, guiding researchers on the reliability of the data.
Key Features of Enhanced BBI
- Improved Signal Processing: Enhanced BBI maintains more original heartbeat information, enabling accurate HRV component detection.
- Confidence Score: Each heartbeat measurement includes a confidence score (ONE for high confidence, ZERO for low), indicating the reliability of the data.
Reasons for Low Confidence Scores
Low scores can result from motion artifacts, poor signal quality, or abnormally high HRV. This system helps identify data that might be less reliable for analysis.
Why Use Enhanced BBI?
- Detailed Beat Information: Unlike systems that only offer summary statistics, Enhanced BBI provides detailed information for every single heartbeat.
- Data Reliability: It flags potentially unreliable data without dismissing it, allowing researchers to make informed decisions on data usage.
- High Consistency: Enhanced BBI has shown high consistency with ECG-based RRI, making it a valuable tool for HRV research.
Note
Not all Garmin models support Enhanced BBI. View compatible devices→
Using Enhanced BBI in Labfront
Start capturing Enhanced BBI
If you're interested in using Enhanced BBI in Labfront, you will first need to ensure you have a compatible Garmin device with the latest firmware.
Next, submit your email below and we'll help you get set up:
Analyzing Enhanced BBI data
The Enhanced BBI data looks almost identical to legacy BBI's, with one exception: an added column for the confidence score. A score of ONE means the measurement is likely accurate; while a score of ZERO indicates that the measurement might not be as reliable.
Since the Enhanced BBI method flags data that might not be reliable, it is left up to the researchers to decide how to use it, which could present more challenges in terms of pre-processing before turning the data into useful metrics.
To assist with this, Labfront offers pre-built validated reports to help derive HRV from BBI data as well as custom analytics services that can help with everything from exploration to analysis.
Sample Data
Here is a sample of Enhanced BBI data in Labfront, showing the confidence score:
.png?width=688&height=427&name=enhanced-bbi-confidence%20(1).png)
For a full list of data types and descriptions, check out our data documentation guide→
Recommendations for Researchers
To maximize data accuracy:
- Ensure Controlled Conditions: Collect data under conditions with minimal physical movement and ensure the Garmin device fits well.
- Handling Low-Confidence Data: Consider discarding zero-confidence BBI readings but be aware of potential data gaps. Alternatively, include low-confidence BBIs if they constitute a small portion of the dataset, not exceeding 20% of the data.
FAQs
Do you offer any services to help analyze the data?
We do! Our team of experts has over 20+ years of experience in digital biomarkers and research analytics. You can use our validated pre-built HRV reports or outsource your analytics to us and save up to several months of work. Learn more about Labfront Analytics here.
Will Enhanced BBI automatically be enabled on a newer Garmin device?
To maintain data consistency in ongoing projects, Legacy BBI is currently set as the default option. If you wish to enable Enhanced BBI for your project, please reach out to us at support@labfront.com.
Is it possible to capture both Enhanced and Legacy BBI?
We currently give researchers the option of collecting: 1) Legacy BBI only 2) Enhanced BBI only and 3) Both Legacy and Enhanced BBI. However, the data sync time will be increased significantly if both are enabled.
Enhanced BBI is enabled for my project but I don't see a confidence score in the download.
First, check that you're using a Garmin device compatible with Enhanced BBI. View this list. If you are, the issue is likely due to the device firmware needing to be updated. Check for the latest version and update.
Why is the accumulated BBI data less than 24 hours?
The most likely reason for lower than expected accumulated BBI data is that the participant was not wearing the watch for the entire day. For example, they may have taken the device off to charge it.
More Resources
Garmin Enhanced BBI - An Example Night