Jia Xiao

The heart doesn't beat like a metronome but like a jazz drummer: sometimes it stumbles, skips beats, or races. Atrial fibrillation is one of the most insidious glitches: the atria quiver instead of contracting, and blood can pool, forming clots. Doctors catch this glitch on an ECG — a recording of the heart's electrical signals.

An electrocardiogram is like a recording of a conversation where the heart whispers and a construction site roars in the background. Atrial fibrillation, where the atria quiver instead of contracting, changes that whisper almost imperceptibly.