CRT-ICDs alleviate atrial lead without sacrificing diagnostics
BIOTRONIK won FDA approval and is releasing in the U.S. its Intica DX and Intica cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT)-DX implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD). The DX indicator refers to BIOTRONIK’s technology that obviates the necessity of having an atrial lead to monitor the electrical activity in the atrium, a way that cardiologists use to spot atrial fibrillation and other more serious arrhythmic events.
The Intica CRT-DX is the first cardiac rhythm management implant that provides atrial signal data without having an atrial lead, which should help reduce complications and make implantation easier, faster, and safer.
The device also features BIOTRONIK’s MultiPole Pacing technology that gives cardiologists more pacing options by allowing the left ventricle to be paced two times during every heartbeat, be it sequentially or simultaneously. The device also changes its pacing depending on the physical needs of the patient and any serious mental stress experienced.
Additionally, the Intica DX includes MRI AutoDetect capability that places the device into a safe mode just when the patient gets near an MRI machine. BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring allows the device to upload its data to the patient’s clinical team for easy and convenient analysis.
“When treating heart failure patients, we are often managing several comorbidities that can increase the likelihood of complications and risk when implanting a CRT-D and in the years that follow,” in the BIOTRONIK announcement said Dr. Larry Chinitz, a cardiac electrophysiologist in New York City.
“Balancing risk and therapeutic needs has historically been a challenge. CRT-DX changes this and creates a higher echelon of patient care. Now there is an ICD for heart failure patients that minimises hardware and risk while providing optimal diagnostics to help patients feel better and stay out of the hospital. The addition of DX technology to a CRT device is a breakthrough.”