February 3, 2016 — Biotronik announced CE approval for its new Ilivia implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices (CRT-Ds), improving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) access for cardiac device patients. Ilivia devices come with the company’s ProMRI technology, as well as MRI AutoDetect.
At present, when a cardiac device patient undergoes an MRI scan, a cardiologist must program his or her device into a special mode that temporarily reduces the device’s functionality until the MRI scan is completed. Following the scan, the cardiologist must switch off the device’s MRI mode to allow the patient to once again have the full therapeutic benefits of their implanted device.
MRI AutoDetect allows the cardiologist to activate a special window, lasting up to 14 days, in which all device functionality is maintained until the patient is undergoing the scan itself. At that point, the device switches into MRI mode automatically. Once the scan is completed, all device functionality is restored, again automatically and without the need for the cardiologist’s intervention. Soon after the scan, the cardiologist receives a full report via transmission through Biotronik Home Monitoring.
“It is only in the last few years that cardiac device patients could safely undergo MRI scans at all. However, even now, patients aren’t fully protected if they have an event while their devices are programmed in MRI mode — a period that currently can last a day or more depending on hospital workflows,” commented Richard Kobza, M.D., head of cardiology, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Lucerne, Switzerland. “Reducing the amount of time a device is in MRI mode is particularly crucial for ICD and CRT-D patients, and with MRI AutoDetect the only time these patients won’t be able to benefit from full device therapy is the short 30-minute window they spend in the MRI machine itself.”
Ilivia devices also feature MultiPole Pacing (MPP) to further improve therapy for CRT patients, the company’s Closed Loop Stimulation (CLS) algorithm for more adaptive pacing, and DX technology for ICDs and CRT-Ds.
For more information: www.biotronik.com
May 22, 2023 
