Comparing New Leadless Pacemakers: Micra vs. Nanostim

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

On the back of encouraging Phase III trial results, Medtronic's "Micra" leadless pacemaker was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April, beating St. Jude Medical's "Nanostim" to approval—but does it have more limitations?

For leadless pacemakers, size matters.

Despite being small for pacemakers, both devices are rather large for transfemoral catheterization—the access site for both devices.

Sheaths for St. Jude Medical's Nanostim device measure 18 French or 6mm in diameter, to which Dr. Prapa Kanagaratnam of St. Mary's Hospital, Imperial College, London expressed some concern. "An 18-F sheath is a big sheath to put in the leg," he said to heartwire.

"A lot of the patients we're putting these devices into are small, elderly people," said Dr. Kanagaratnam. "So it's still a procedure that we feel anxious about."

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Interview with Mark Baker, Cath Lab Director at Platte Valley Medical Center

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Platte Valley Medical Center is hosting three days of ACVP educational events in Brighton, Colorado, including an exciting two-day Cardio Conference February 12-13, and a CCI Exam Review session February 14.

We sat down with PVMC Cath Lab Director Mark Baker, RCIS, MICP, RCSA, CTAE to talk about what's in store.

What motivated you to host?

There's not a lot of education of this type out here in Colorado. They don't have a lot of education that's geared towards Allied Health. In the northeast region in Colorado,  there are not a lot of large hospitals, so getting education in difficult. If there is anything, it's usually in Denver.

What about the upcoming meeting are you most excited about?

I invited physicians that I know from Alaska. Some of the methodologies for care [there] are a little bit different. Having our staff see these different points of view, that's what I'm most excited about. I think it's going to stir up a lot of conversation about how we're doing things now and how we should do them in the future.

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New Remote Rehab System for Heart Pathologies

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

IN THE NEWS

Spanish researchers at the Universitat Politècnica de València, the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Medtronic, an ACVP partner, developed a new, remote heart rehabilitation program based on physical exercise routines.

The program employs a mobile application and t-shirts with sensors to remotely collect exercise data for healthcare providers, connect providers and patients, and keep patients interested in their own rehabilitation progress. The program's success is intrinsically tied to its demonstrated ability to improve compliance with rehabilitation.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW 

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