Small, Wireless Monitor Provides Long-Term Remote Monitoring to Help Physicians Diagnose and Monitor Irregular Heartbeats

BRAMPTON, ON--  Medtronic of Canada today announced it has received Health Canada license for the Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM), the smallest implantable cardiac monitoring device available for patients with irregular heartbeats, unexplained syncope (fainting), or unexplained stroke.

The Reveal LINQ ICM is approximately one-third the size of an AAA battery (~1 cc), making it more than 80 percent smaller than other ICMs. While significantly smaller, the device is part of a powerful system that allows physicians to continuously and wirelessly monitor a patient's heart for up to three years, with 20 percent more data memory than its larger predecessors, Reveal® XT and DX.

In addition to its continuous and wireless monitoring capabilities, the system provides remote monitoring through the CareLink® Network, which notifies physicians if patients have significant cardiac events between regular medical appointments. The Reveal LINQ ICM is indicated for patients with clinical syndromes or situations at increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, and for patients who experience transient symptoms that may suggest a cardiac arrhythmia.

While Reveal LINQ can monitor for palpitations or syncope episodes, it also helps doctors determine if patients suffer from atrial fibrillation, which can appear intermittently and without symptoms. Atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder, is a major cause of stroke but is difficult to detect.¹

Placed just beneath the skin through a small incision of less than 1 cm in the upper left side of the chest, the Reveal LINQ ICM is often nearly invisible to the naked eye once inserted. The device is placed using a minimally invasive insertion procedure, which simplifies the experience for both physicians and their patients. The Reveal LINQ ICM is MR-Conditional, allowing patients, under certain conditions, to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if needed.

"The first insertable cardiac monitor was invented by Dr. George Klein, Professor of Medicine, at Western University in London, Ontario. This Canadian invention was commercially developed as the Reveal™ Insertable Cardiac Monitor by Medtronic, Inc. The new Reveal LINQ™ is the result of many years of ongoing development to reduce its size, while adding wireless telemetry, enhancing performance, and improving benefits for patients," said Neil D. Fraser, President of Medtronic of Canada. "This innovative technology provides significant benefits for patients who need cardiac monitoring, and we look forward to providing them with the most technologically advanced and minimally invasive approach possible."

The Reveal LINQ system also includes the new MyCareLink™ Patient Monitor, a simplified remote monitoring system with global cellular technology that transmits patients' cardiac device diagnostic data to their clinicians from nearly any location in the world.

Medtronic, in collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide, offers the broadest range of innovative medical therapies for cardiovascular disease and cardiac arrhythmias.

Source: Medtronic

¹http://www.heartandstroke.com/site/c.ikIQLcMWJtE/b.5052135/k.2C86/Heart_disease__Atrial_fibrillation.htm