Newly approved implantable defibrillator from St. Jude Medical, in addition to shocking, also has an anti-atrial fibrillation functionality:
The Atlas® II+ HF CRT-D (cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator) is the first U.S. heart failure device to offer the AF Suppression™ algorithm. This proprietary algorithm helps maintain control of the heart’s atrial rhythm by pacing slightly faster than the patient’s natural heart rate. The AF Suppression algorithm has been clinically proven to reduce the AF burden (the percentage of days with AF symptoms) in previous studies…
The new Atlas II+ HF CRT-D also offers the company’s QuickOpt™ timing cycle optimization feature, a programmer-based optimization for people with CRT-D devices and traditional implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) that helps physicians quickly program the device’s timing so it delivers optimal therapy to patients. The QuickOpt feature produces results that are comparable to echocardiography (or echo, the current industry standard), but is significantly less costly and time-consuming. A QuickOpt timing cycle optimization procedure takes less than two minutes, while a typical echo procedure takes between 30 and 120 minutes and requires manual interpretation by a technician.
The QuickOpt feature electrically characterizes the conduction properties of the heart and uses an exclusive algorithm to calculate the optimal timing values. This allows for efficient and frequent optimization during routine device follow-up visits.
Other features of the Atlas II+ HF CRT-D are designed to help physicians manage difficult-to-treat conditions:
— DeFT Response™ technology and unsurpassed energy output (36 J delivered energy, 42 J stored energy) help physicians manage the unpredictably high defibrillation thresholds that affect as many as one in eight heart failure patients.
— Remote monitoring enables device information to be downloaded and accessed from any computer with Internet access, enabling routine follow-up to be conducted from the convenience of the patient’s home.