How Wireless Is Helping a Heart Beat

Lots of things can make a heart beat faster, but one technology is helping pacemaker users have a more active and productive life.

For the first time ever wireless technology is being used to monitor, diagnose and track pacemaker activity and performance, which means patients can continue their daily lives without a trip to the clinic or doctor's office.

Pretty neat stuff and evidence that technology is more than just finding those old classmates or tweeting about our daily lives.

As a Reuter's story reports, 61-year-old Carol Kasyjanski is the first pacemaker recipient to benefit from a new wireless innovation developed by St. Jude Medical. The device, called Accent RF pacemaker and Anthem RF CRT-P (cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker), received FDA approval in late July

According to a press statement, the products provide RF telemetry that enables secure, wireless communication between the implanted device and the programmer used by the clinician or a home monitor.

“The Accent RF pacemaker and Anthem RF CRT-P are representative of St. Jude Medical’s dedication to providing early insight into actionable information for physicians,” said Dr. Eric S. Fain, president of the St. Jude Medical Cardiac Rhythm Management Division, in a press statement. “The pacemakers were designed in response to physician and patient needs for devices that provide timely, actionable information. Using the remote monitoring capabilities, physicians can more efficiently follow patients, while patients enjoy the convenience of care from home.”

While doctors are given fast and real-time access to device data, Merlin.net Patient Care Network (PCN) lets them compile a more complete patient record as they can easily input cardiac device data into electronic health records.

Maybe more importantly the products' "alert" features provide better diagnosing and patient management. The devices can be programmed to notify the patient of pacemaker blips and glitches through a two-tone audible alert. In addition, the patient’s clinic can be informed through the home monitoring system. These features will allow the physician to more proactively manage patients’ atrial arrhythmias.

For Kasyjanski, who's had heart-related issues for 20 years, the technology gives her greater peace of mind about the pacemaker and heart activity as doctors will know about issues and problems as they occur.

She may be the first to benefit, but millions can possibly join her ranks. According to the Reuters report, more than 3 million people worldwide use pacemakers and 600,000 more are implanted each year.

Photo courtesy of St. Jude Medical, Inc.