Abbott, one of India’s leading healthcare companies recently launched the latest Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) across the country which is also the world’s first smartphone compatible ICM to aid physicians who can remotely monitor their patients for even the most difficult to detect cardiac arrhythmias including irregular heartbeats, atrial fibrillation etc.

It is designed to continuously monitor a patient’s heart rhythm and proactively transmit information via Bluetooth to Abbott’s dedicated mobile app for this, allowing physicians to follow their patients remotely and accurately diagnose arrhythmias that may require further treatment. This device provides a win-win situation for both the doctor and the patient.

For doctors the device allows for effective management of patients by diagnosing patients having infrequent but potentially fatal episodes of cardiac arrhythmias while enhancing patient compliance through smartphone connectivity. For patients it provides a new way to get monitored for abnormal heart rythms while staying connected to their doctors remotely and engaged in their healthcare.Once implanted just under the skin in the chest during a quick, minimally invasive outpatient procedure this ICM continuously monitors heart rhythms to detect a range of cardiac arrhythmias. It is also the slimmest ICM available today. It is the size of two paper clips, stacked on top of each other. While the ICM continu- ously monitors for abnormal heart rhythms and transmits data to a patient’s doctor, the app also allows patients to track symptoms proactively,sync their data with their clinic at any time, and view their transmission history without having to contact their clinic to confirm successful data transfers. Patients can also re- cord their symptoms such as fainting spells or heart palpitations in the app on their smart phones, to complement the information being monitored by the device.

The device has already received the CE Mark and USFDA approvals and is available in the EU, U.S.A and Australia The insertable cardiac monitor is extremely useful as it provides early diagnosis and timely treatment to events which could be catastrophic in nature if left unattended. This device for sure is taking cardiac monitoring to a whole new level.