Implantable Wireless Heart Failure Management System Significantly Reduces Hospital Readmissions and May Inspire Implantable Diagnostic Test Devices
Implantable devices with this technology could be designed to perform some of the same kinds of assays currently handled in medical labs
Implantable diagnostic devices that report results wirelessly to patients’ physicians could be both a threat and an opportunity for clinical laboratories and pathology groups. News of clearance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an implantable monitoring device for home use by heart patients demonstrates that such technology is improving with rapid speed.
Could Implantable Monitoring Devices Replace Some Medical Lab Tests?
Patients use CardioMEMS from the comfort of their homes. The implantable monitoring device measures pulmonary artery pressures and heart rates and transmits that data wirelessly to physicians. It was last summer when the FDA cleared the CardioMEMS Heart Failure Management System, manufactured by St. Jude Medical of St. Paul, MN. Such implantable technology could eventually perform certain assays currently handled in medical laboratories. (more…)
