ST . PAUL, Minn., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- St. Jude Medical announced Tuesday its U.S. launch of the QuickOpt Timing Cycle Optimization for heart failure/defibrillator patients.
The new device is a programer used to help doctors improve patient outcomes for patients implanted with traditional implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) as well as cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds).
St. Jude said the QuickOpt device yields results comparable to echocardiography, and works by electrically characterizing the conduction properties of the heart and then using an exclusive algorithm to calculate the optimal timing values.
The device can accomplish in about two minutes what it takes a typical echo optimization procedure between 30 and 120 minutes to do, and is less costly, St. Jude said.
"Many patients may not have their CRT device or ICD optimized, meaning that they recognize some benefits, but may not realize all of the benefits these sophisticated devices can deliver. In those patients, it's like running an air conditioner on a hot day with the windows open," said Raffaele Corbisiero of the Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, N.J., who participated in the QuickOpt study. "QuickOpt provides the accuracy of echo-based optimization without the clinic time it takes to schedule, perform and interpret an echo procedure."
