Boston Scientific's Latitude NXT, a wireless remote patient management system that works with a handful of the medical device company's pacemakers, has officially launched in Europe where a hospital in Italy implanted a Latitude-enabled pacemaker in a heart patient. The patient received an Ingenio SR pacemaker and a home-based wireless communicator. Latitude NXT is still pending FDA review for the US market.
The Latitude NXT system works with two other devices besides Ingenio SR pacemakers -- Advantio pacemakers and Invive cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers.
Latitude NXT offers GSM cellular connectivity as an option. The system makes it easy for healthcare professionals to access information about their patients' real-time pacemaker information. It also enables alert notifications via text messaging or email and it can integrate with some EMRs, too. Boston Scientific believes the EMR integration saves clinicians about 15 minutes, which is how long it takes to manually enter routine device follow-up data into EMRs.
Notably, Boston Scientific also offers wireless-enabled weight scales and blood pressure monitors for patients on its Latitude NXT system. This suite of devices helps physicians better monitor relevant biometrics. The system can also help doctors monitor respiratory and sleep apnea trending, according to the company.
Earlier this month Boston Scientific announced that the Ingenio pacemakers that will be able to connect to the Latitude NXT system in the future, have already rolled out in the US.
St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City was among those healthcare facilities to first give patients the connected technology. In its St. Luke announcement, Boston Scientific explained that the system would "let physicians conduct remote follow-ups of these device patients to monitor specific device information and heart health status." The medtech company also noted that "the system will also detect clinical events between scheduled visits and send relevant data directly to a secure website, which can be accessed by physicians. This wireless technology will allow patients to transmit data to physicians from most locations in North America without the need for landline-based technology."
Unfortunately, these devices and companion services do not yet make the data available to the patients whose very body they reside in. One patient, named Hugo Campos, has led a movement to help patients get access to the data that is being wireless streamed from their own bodies. (More on Campos' story in this NPR story from last month.)
More on Boston Scientific' launch in Europe in the press release below:
PRESS RELEASE: NATICK, Massachusetts and PARIS, June 14, 2012 -- Next-generation wireless remote patient management system enabled for INGENIO[TM]family of pacemakers is now in use in Europe. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) has initiated use of the LATITUDE NXT Remote Patient Management System with patients in Europe.
Dr. Roberto Verlato, head of cardiology at Camposampiero Hospital in Verona, Italy initiated use of the LATITUDE NXT system with a patient implanted with an INGENIO™ SR pacemaker, and provided the patient with a new home-based wireless communicator.
"We welcome the next-generation LATITUDE NXT system as it provides pacemaker patients with a simple and easy-to-use communicator that may replace certain in-clinic follow-up visits. The system offers clinicians the most comprehensive suite of diagnostic tools in the CRM industry to support proactive treatment decisions and provide an opportunity to verify improvement of clinical outcomes, as was demonstrated for ICD and CRT-D patients in the ALTITUDE Survival study," said Dr. Verlato.
The LATITUDE NXT website and patient communicator merge key features from the trusted LATITUDE system with new features requested by physicians and patients, and is fully compatible with Boston Scientific's advanced pacemaker family: INGENIO™ and ADVANTIO™ pacemakers and INVIVE™ cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers (CRT-P).
LATITUDE NXT offers patients a simplified experience with wireless and automatic remote follow-up and optional integrated cellular GSM connectivity, providing patients with greater convenience than existing systems. In addition, LATITUDE NXT features a unique communicator-initiated device interrogation which is designed to minimize impact on implanted device battery longevity, potentially giving patients greater peace of mind.
LATITUDE NXT offers health care professionals a system that provides convenient online access to relevant pacemaker patient information, and flexibility and control in how clinicians receive and review data. The LATITUDE NXT system features alert notification options such as SMS message or email, simple website administration, and integration with the hospital medical database (electronic medical records, or EMR) to automate hospital workflow - which could save up to 15 minutes for each patient transmission, the average time it takes to manually enter routine device follow-up data into an EMR system.
LATITUDE NXT is compatible with the wireless weight scale and blood pressure monitor from Boston Scientific. Physicians can choose to remotely monitor a series of relevant health status indicators including weight and blood pressure, as well as respiratory and sleep apnea trending. By providing access to this diagnostic information, LATITUDE NXT enables physicians to risk-stratify patients to more confidently make informed, proactive treatment decisions.
"We are proud to enhance the level of support available to pacemaker patients by offering the state-of-the-art LATITUDE NXT system. An increasing percentage of patients needing cardiac rhythm therapy are indicated for pacemakers, and we are pleased to continue to innovate technology to support positive patient outcomes and quality of life," said Michael Onuscheck, senior vice president and president of EMEA for Boston Scientific.
Pacemakers are designed to treat bradycardia, a condition in which the heart beats too slowly - usually less than 60 beats per minute - depriving the body of sufficient oxygen.
For more news about Boston Scientific at Cardiostim 2012, please follow us on Twitter @bsc_eu_heart (https://twitter.com/#!/BSC_EU_Heart).
The LATITUDE NXT Remote Patient Management System is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is currently not available for sale in the United States.
About Boston Scientific
Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices that are used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties. For more information, please visit: http://www.bostonscientific.com.
