When Medtronic acquired Corventis earlier this year, it led to a lot of speculation about how the noninvasive cardiac sensor company would play into Medtronic's future products. This month, Medtronic has announced it is finally getting into the wearable sensor game with the U.S. release of the Seeq Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCT) System. Formally known as the Nuvant System under Corventis, the Seeq is an adhesive, wearable cardiac sensor that can be worn up to 30 days for continuous cardiac monitoring.

Nina Goodheart, vice president and general manager of the diagnostics and monitoring business at Medtronic, adds that the major contribution Medtronic has made to the technology is allowing it to interface with Medtronic's patient monitoring center. “The Seeq MCT System records and stores every heartbeat and can transmit cardiac event data via Bluetooth and cellular connections to the Medtronic Monitoring Center,” she says. “The certified cardiographic technicians at the [center] continuously monitor patients’ cardiac data 24 hours a day, every day, and send monitoring reports directly to patients’ physicians.”

Earlier this year, Medtronic also unveiled the Reveal Linq Insertable Cardiac Monitoring (ICM) System, which can continuously monitor patients for up to three years for arrhythmia patients whose symptoms are less frequent and might not be detected by short-term monitoring. “By adding a short-term cardiac monitor to complement our insertable long-term Reveal Linq device, Medtronic is providing a comprehensive portfolio of diagnostic tools to help patients with different types of symptoms,” Goodheart says.

The system is currently indicated for patients who experience cardiac arrhythmia whose systems aren't detected by a 24-hour Holter monitor. Data is collected by a hand-held transmitter (originally designed as part of the Nuvant system). Goodheart says that future versions of the Seeq may be able to utilize a smartphone or other mobile device instead of it's own transmitter. The company is also exploring how the Seeq technology could apply to other cardiac conditions. “We continue to investigate if there are patients with other cardiac conditions who might benefit from the Seeq MCT System.” Goodheart says. “Future generations of the Seeq MCT System may utilize other advanced technologies to help physicians diagnose irregular heartbeats in their patients, but further investigation would be required.”

 -Chris Wiltz, Associate Editor, MD+DI

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