Insertable heart monitor gains indications for AF

Data collected by the implantable cardiac monitor are also remotely accessible.

Issue: March 2009

The Reveal XT implantable remote cardiac monitor has recently earned indication for atrial fibrillation.

Medtronic recently announced the commercial launch of its Reveal XT insertable cardiac monitoring system, designed to detect and record information in patients with suspected arrhythmias. The Reveal XT can detect atrial arrhythmias, including asymptomatic episodes, and can monitor the length of time a patient spends in AF. It joins the Reveal DX cardiac monitor as one of the first two remote cardiac monitors indicated for AF that are also capable of interacting with Medtronic’s CareLink Network. The CareLink Network incorporates information captured by the remote monitors and makes it available to physicians via the internet.

Reveal XT implantable remote cardiac monitor

Source: Medtronic

Medtronic also announced the successful completion of the first implantation of the Reveal XT in the United States, conducted by Blair Grubb, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Toledo Medical Center in Ohio.

“I see many patients desperately seeking answers for their unexplained symptoms,” Grubb said in a press release. “By adding AF detection capabilities and greater diagnostic reporting, I expect the Reveal XT device to be an even more effective tool to help monitor and diagnose my patients.”

The device is implanted below the skin in a short outpatient procedure. A patient captures an electrocardiogram by holding a pager-like device over the monitor and pressing a button. A physician can later retrieve the information captured on the ECG or can access the information transmitted over the internet. Data collected from the Reveal monitors have been available using the CareLink Network since the fall of 2008.

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For more information about Reveal XT, visit: medtronic.com.