Biotronik has reported that the first US patient has been implanted with its Lumax 740 dual-chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).
Lumax 740 dual-chamber ICD features SMART detection, which discriminate between atrial and ventricular arrhythmias and avoid unnecessary therapies.
In addition, Lumax 740 devices contain Biotronik's TI feature, which measures thoracic impedance and helps physician to use the information as additional insight to manage critically important aspects of patient care, including drugs used to adjust fluid levels.
The FDA and CE-approved Biotronik home monitoring technology, which is embedded with the Lumax 740 system, automatically transmits a patient's clinical and device status on a daily basis.
Biotronik vice president marketing Rex Richmond said the Lumax 740 series incorporates state-of-the-art circuitry in a remarkably efficient design, offering longevity nearly to a decade of service.
"We know that high quality and durable systems are better for patients and less costly for the healthcare system over time," Richmond added.
NYU Heart Rhythm Center cardiac electrophysiology and invasive cardiology director Larry A. Chinitz said patients on anti-arrhythmic medication may have slower ventricular tachycardias, which can influence a patient's hemodynamics and directly affect a device's ability to discriminate arrhythmias and successfully restore a normal rhythm.
"In addition, the presence of atrial arrhythmias can confuse the device if it isn't able to tell the difference between a lethal arrhythmia and a non-lethal arrhythmia," Chinitz added.