One of the most common causes of hospitalization in the United States is heart failure, a condition in which the heart can’t pump adequate amounts of blood throughout the body. Each year, more than 1 million patients are admitted because their heart failure episodes are difficult to anticipate before it’s too late. Regular visits to the doctor aren’t able to predict patients’ often rapid declines—what doctors call “acute decompensation.”
To address this widespread issue, Boston Scientific developed the HeartLogic™ Heart Failure Diagnostic, a first-of-its-kind technology designed to use information from multiple sensors in implantable cardiac devices to give physicians customized alerts about a patient’s worsening heart failure—before the damage is done.
“We had two design imperatives in creating HeartLogic,” said Dr. Kenneth Stein, senior vice president and chief medical officer, Rhythm Management and Global Health Policy at Boston Scientific. “The first was to deliver personalized, predictive care. The second was translating data into action.”
It’s the actionable component that sets the HeartLogic diagnostic apart. The diagnostic sensors within implantable devices like defibrillators and pacemakers collect information in five key metrics: heart rate, respiration, thoracic impedance (which measures whether fluid is accumulating in the lungs), patient activity levels and heart sounds. The proprietary HeartLogic algorithm then alerts doctors of worsening conditions, often predicting heart failure events an average of 34 days before they happen, which allows for earlier intervention.
The HeartLogic diagnostic also has significant implications for healthcare efficiency. Its remote monitoring capabilities help to reduce the number of necessary appointments with patients who are doing well, while the early alert system allows doctors to focus resources on the patients who need care the most. This can ultimately mean fewer hospitalizations and more peace of mind for patients with heart failure.
Read the full Fast Company article about the HeartLogic Heart Failure Diagnostic.