OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES FOR REMOTE MONITORING OF PATIENTS WITH IMPLANTED DEVICES

Abstract

Today implantable cardiac devices (ICD) are advanced therapeutic and preventive tools ensuring the collection and transmission of statistical and diagnostic patient data. The information obtained from implanted devices allows analyzing patients’ condition, selecting optimal treatment strategy, predicting and preventing possible complications. The number of ICD recipients is rapidly growing. Over 1,000 devices per 1 million population are implanted in Europe and the US annually. In the Russian Federation this number reaches 300 devices per 1 million population. Routine medical checkups of patients with ICD should be performed 2–4 times a year, with an average length of about 20 minutes. It means that only in the Russian Federation physicians will have to work 20–40 thousand extra hours with a tendency towards its increase as this figure will grow simultaneously with growing patients’ number. Remote monitoring (RM) technologies may solve this problem. In 2000 Biotronik AG developed the world's first system for remote monitoring of anti-arrhythmic devices called the “Home Monitoring” system. It is based on the mobile RM of patients who received ICD. The information collected by the devices is transmitted to a special service center via mobile communication networks and after processing, the information is transferred to a physician’s website along with a text message and a fax. The information is instantly delivered from a patient to a physician. A closed information network "patient-service center-physician" was developed for the hospitals and their patients, providing a novel advanced monitoring and timely treatment of the patient.