Heart disease that progresses into heart failure leaves people in a dangerous state in which acute decompensation events can happen at any time. Being able to monitor such patients day and night normally requires hospitalization, but a new implant system just approved by the FDA can offer capabilities similar to right heart catheterization while the patient is back home.
The CardioMEMS HF System from CardioMEMS (Atlanta, GA) consists of an implantable, battery-free sensor that is implanted into the distal pulmonary artery to continuously measure the heart rate along with systolic, diastolic, and mean pressures. The implant is delivered using a matching vascular catheter and readings from the implant are gathered by a bedside electronics unit that also wirelessly powers the implant. The data is transmitted to an online portal where the patient’s cardiologist can check the readings collected by the CardioMEMS HF.
Some details about the technology inside the implant, according to the product page:
The sensor is a resonant circuit consisting of a capacitor and an inductor. The capacitance of the sensor is a function of the pressure in the sensor’s environment and the resonant frequency of the sensor is a function of the capacitance and is measured by the electronics unit. Because of the presence of the inductor coil, the sensor can be electromagnetically coupled and the resonant frequency of the LC (inductor-capacitor) circuit can be measured remotely. This allows for wireless communication with the sensor and eliminates the need for a battery.
Product page: CardioMEMS HF System…