| InSync Sentry™ cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) defibrillator system. It is the world’s first implantable medical therapy offering automatic fluid status monitoring in the thoracic cavity, the chest area encompassing the lungs and heart. This advance is expected to provide a critical advantage in managing heart failure, since thoracic fluid accumulation is a primary indicator of worsening heart failure and often results in patient hospitalization. The breakthrough feature that makes thoracic fluid measurement possible is called OptiVol™ Fluid Status Monitoring, which measures changes in impedance. Using very low electrical pulses that travel across the thoracic cavity, the system can measure the level of resistance to the electrical pulses, which indicates the level of fluid in the thorax. Since normal fluid levels may vary from patient to patient and fluid accumulation can be either slow or rapid, OptiVol’s ability to measure fluid status trends over time can provide important insights in conjunction with ongoing monitoring of other patient symptoms.
InSync Sentry will provide vital patient information to physicians who implant CRT defibrillator systems and also to physicians who manage the ongoing care of heart failure patients. In the future, Medtronic plans to offer various methods to access information gathered by the InSync Sentry system, including the Internet and through wireless transmissions that wouldn't require direct patient interaction
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