Biotronik Features Cardio Devices with MRI Technology

During this year’s Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Boston, Mass. (May 9-12), Berlin, Germany-based Biotronik is highlighting its implantable cardiac defibrillator, cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator, and cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker with the company’s ProMRI technology.

ProMRI provides tachycardic and heart failure patients with access to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the first time, according to the company. Pacemakers usually are considered a contraindication for MRI because the strong magnetic field and radiofrequency waves can interfere with pacemaker functioning and generate electric currents in the leads. The technology currently is on the market in Europe, but has not yet been cleared by regulatory authorities in the United States.

The device lines are known as the Lumax 740 and Evia HF-T.

“The Lumax 740 and Evia HF-T series mark an entirely new era of innovation in implantable cardiac device technology,” commented Christoph Boehmer, managing director of Biotronik. “The broad device and lead portfolios of both the Lumax 740 and Evia HF-T series offer physicians the unique opportunity to select the optimal device for each patient, as well as giving their patients access to MR scans.”

The devices also offer therapy options such as Biotronik Home Monitoring. Studies have demonstrated that the home monitoring feature enables the early detection of atrial fibrillation and significantly reduces hospitalizations as well as unnecessary and inappropriate shocks.

In February 2011, Medtronic Inc. received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the Revo MRI SureScan, the first MRI-friendly pacemaker in the United States. St. Jude Medical Inc. announced the first implant of its MRI-friendly device in a U.S, clinical trial in April. Along with Biotronik, Medtronic and St. Jude also market MRI-safe devices in Europe.

Biotronik SE & Co. KG is a manufacturer of cardiovascular medical devices.