Abbott has secured FDA clearance for the Confirm Rx Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM), the world's first and only smartphone compatible ICM designed to help physicians remotely identify cardiac arrhythmias. With FDA clearance Abbott can now provide U.S. patients a new way to monitor for abnormal heart rhythms while staying connected to their physician remotely and being able to engage in their healthcare.
An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm that develops when disease or injury disrupts the heart's electrical signals, causing the heart to beat erratically. As the heart begins to beat too fast or too slow, changes in blood flow can expose patients to symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath or fainting.
"Confirm Rx shows what we can do with cutting edge communication technology and the most advanced medical devices that provide new opportunities to improve patient care," said Avi Fischer, M.D., divisional vice president and medical director of Abbott's Cardiac Rhythm Management business. "By offering a device that uses Bluetooth wireless technology from the patient's smartphone, we can help physicians easily and remotely diagnose potentially dangerous abnormal heart beats without requiring the patient to use a separate or cumbersome recording device."
Abbott's insertable cardiac monitors have helped advance how physicians remotely monitor patients for abnormal heart rhythms. By incorporating Bluetooth wireless technology, Abbott has advanced remote monitoring by allowing patients to connect their ICM to their smartphone via the myMerlin mobile app. Once implanted—just under the skin in the chest during a quick, minimally-invasive outpatient procedure—Confirm Rx continuously monitors heart rhythms to detect a range of cardiac arrhythmias, including irregular heartbeats, or atrial fibrillation.
Data collected by the device is then securely transmitted to a patient's physician via the mobile app on a schedule set by the clinic. The app also allows patients to record symptomatic events from their own smartphone without the need for additional hardware such as handheld activators or bedside transmitters.
