Wireless pacemakers set to transform heart disease monitoring

New wireless pacemakers can report even when the patient is sleeping

Wireless pacemakers, that allow patients to stay in touch with their doctors all the time wirelessly, are set to revolutionize heart disease monitoring across the world.

Photo: St Jude Accent RF wireless pacemaker

Wireless pacemakers are digital pacemakers equipped with wireless transmission capabilities which will allow patients and doctors to continuously monitor a patient’s progress, following operation.

Wireless pacemakers, with thier remote sensing feature, not only provides safety but convenience for patients, who are able to rest easier and can make fewer trips to the doctor’s office.

The new wireless pacemakers transmit additional information about the patients heart with greater frequency. This gives patients the advantage of fewer office visits. In this case, it is a great advantage because visting doctors frequently is often a problem with heart patients living in rural areas and quicker response to problems.

Wireless pacemakers are ideal for patients in remote areas who may have prolonged drive times for clinic visits, reports suggest.

Wireless pace makers seends out information every day. It has the ability to detect changes that are programmed into the device. Wireless pacemakers can report 24 hours a day, even when the patient is sleeping.

Wireless pacemakers have some type of transtelephonic monitoring system that can send data over a telephone line if needed.

Wireless pacemakers enable the doctors to wirelessly communicate with a programmer used by the clinician or a home monitor.

“With wireless pacemakers we can monitor the patient on a daily basis. The device is set to report back to us any abnormalities such as atrial fibrillation. For example, if a patient is having regular heart rhythm, but is having atrial fibrillation every now and then, the device will pick it up sooner and send the information through a transmitter to the device clinic,” stated Dr. Rick Henderson, an electrophysiologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centers Heart Center which implanted one of the first wireless pacemakers in US.

Two wireless pace makers -  Accent RF pacemaker and Anthem RF CRT-P for cardiac resynchronization therapy – developed by Little Canada-based St Jude have received USFDA approval recently.

St Jude Medical has brought out three models of the wireless pacemakers: a single-chamber version that goes into the right ventricle, a double-chamber version that goes into the right ventricle and atria, and a third version for heart failure patients that goes into the right ventricle, the left ventricle and the artery.

Remote monitoring capabilities in the Accent RF and Anthem RF device will permit automated follow-up, and daily device safety checks with no patient action.

In addition to giving physicians fast access to device performance data, the wireless monitoring system will also allow physicians to compile a more complete patient record by easily transferring cardiac device data into electronic health records.

St Jude’s wireless pace makers also also include a new atrial tachycardia/atrial fibrillation (AT/AF) Alert feature. This feature is designed to notify physicians when a rapid atrial rate  exceeds a programmed value or occurs over an extended time period. The devices also can be programmed to notify the patient of AT/AF episodes, as well as device- and lead-related issues, through a two-tone audible alert. These features will allow the physician to more proactively manage patients’ atrial arrhythmias, such as AF, with appropriate medication or ablation.

What is a pacemaker?

A pacemaker is an artficial device to regulate the beating of the heart using electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles. A pacemaker is implanted just below the collarbone. It is programmed to stimulate the heart at a pre-determined rate, and settings can be adjusted at any time.

Global market for pacemakers, which was valued at $4.2 billion in 2008, is expected to reach $6.1 billion in 2015 with an annual growth rate of 5.4%, according to GlobalData estimates.

High incidence of cardiovascular diseases is the major driver for pacemakers
market. Increasing incidence of disorders like bradycardia, sick sinus syndrome (SSS), atrioventricular blocks (AV Block), sudden cardiac attack and atrial fibrillation will boost the growth of the pacemakers market.

Each year 600,000 patients seek treatment for bradycardia alone. Bradycardia is mainly caused by SSS and AV block. In the US, three out of 10,000 people are affected by SSS. The prevalence of first degree AV block is 1.13 cases per 1000 patients. Also the incidence of SSS and AV block increases with advancing age, with 5% of men over 65 in the US being affected by AV block. Sudden cardiac death accounts for 300,000 deaths in the US each year. Atrial fibrillation affects 10 m people worldwide. This large and increasing patient population is the major driver for pacemakers market, the report said.

Wireless pacemakers and the introduction of remote monitoring are likely to push the market further up as the new generation pacemakers reduces frequent patient visits for follow-ups and sends data to the clinic directly which a physician can review.

It is estimated that more than three million people in the world have pacemakers with about 600,000 more implanted each year.

Wireless pacemakers are also expected to increase patient acceptance of pacemakers.

In future, wireless pacemakers may be placed not just for people with slow heartbeats, they could well be used in monitoring high blood pressure, measuring glucose or heart failure.

Wireless pacemakers is expected to cater to a large percent of the aging population in the US, Europe and Japan.