Medtronic remote monitoring of an ICD

I was verry happy with having 4 interrogations per year at our local hospital. The technician would tell me of any events that occured, time, date, duration,and the data would go to my cardiologist. I am now being asked to go to the home monitoring system. Will it now be more difficult to access this data? How will find out if I have had any incidences, as I never feel them, Also, can the settings of my ICD be changed by this remote system?  Also, who detects if an "event" has occured? I can't see a person checking my record on a daily basis.  I would appreciate any comments on the remote monitoring of ICDs

2 Comments

monitors

by Tracey_E - 2019-08-30 16:32:39

Every office is going to handle it differently. Mine does an automatic download (programmed by the EP's office)  every three months and they go to the NP in my EP's office who emails me, so I get the same info I always got but now it's via email. If you have one of the ones that uses the phone app, you can check it yourself any time you want. My friend's son has one and she showed me, it's amazing how much info she has at her fingertips.

Modifications to settings are still done in person. 

Home monitoring of PM's and ICD's

by IPGENG12 - 2019-08-30 19:47:54

I will weigh in on this topic, for sure!  I've been pacemaker dependent for four years and have been on a home monitoring system for the entire time (Biotronik).  The system I have does a daily transmission from the device to an automated service center.  The transmission contains data about how the system is performing based on daily self checks (including how the leads are performing, battery status etc..) as well as any clinically significant episodes that my doctor's office should be alerted to.  If there is anything awry, they get notified and I get notified to contact the clinic.  This is totally automatic and I've not had a single event needing notification.  It is a HUGE relief to know that my system and heart condition is being tracked daily.  I work with pacemaker and defib technology and there are many ways things can go wrong (with my heart  or the hardware), so I am grateful that I've got the daily check that everything is on track with my system-  I will be in deep trouble if anything gets in the way of the pacing therapy, and these types of malfunctions usually develop over days or weeks and will be caught by the monitoring systems before I have a medical crisis.  My advice is to adopt a home monitoring system wholeheartedly-  it reduces my stress a lot.  Best of luck!

 

P.S.  Your device settings are not programmable "remotely" as far as  I know.  All the PM and ICD providers have (at this point) put provisions in place on their home monitoring systems that makes this scenario exceedingly unlikely,  in spite of what you may have seen on tv shows or in articles about cyber-security flaws in implantable devices.

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