Successful Remote Patient Monitoring Using Wireless Implants

As new-generation cardiac devices and monitoring products converge with wireless networks, medical professionals are acquiring the capability to monitor key patient parameters and implanted device data in near-real time. These are some of the findings of Applied Data Research (Amherst, NH, USA), a healthcare therapeutics consulting firm focused on medical market strategies, product commercialization, venture development, and market research.

As the market for wireless-enabled implantable devices grow and penetrate the population of cardiovascular patients (a population which is expected to grow) the amount of data generated is projected to increase exponentially. Future generation devices are expected to include sensing features and algorithms that will allow the device logic to filter out events based on the patient's individual history that do not require immediate transmission and attention. Depending on the design architecture, these new communication-enabled devices are capable of sending data continuously, on a timed, or on an exception basis. Among the wireless systems reviewed are rhythm management devices such as implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices, chronic heart failure (CHF) sensors, electrical activity monitors, and vascular implants. Other developmental stage devices include intracardial implants and subcutaneous devices. The report also analyzes emerging wireless data platforms, proprietary sensor-enabled systems that allow physiological data to be retrieved via a number of wireless technologies.

The report predicts that the sheer number of patients with wirelessly enabled implants and the resulting volume of generated alerts will drive the need for service bureaus that can act as intermediaries, screening and relaying device data to the appropriate respondent. Thus, critical patient data can be used by caregivers to modify treatment protocols or schedule interventional procedures in response to current patient status, regardless of the patient's location.

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Applied Data Research