Bioheart Introduces At-Home Congestive Heart Failure Monitor

July 11, 2008 - Bioheart Inc. this week said it secured worldwide, nonexclusive distribution rights to the Bioheart 3370 Heart Failure Monitor, an interactive and simple-to-use at-home device designed to better monitor patients outside hospitals who are suffering from heart failure.

The device, manufactured by RTX Healthcare A/S (Denmark), has FDA 510(k) market clearance and CE Mark in Europe. The company is planning to begin immediate commercial distribution.

The compact Bioheart 3370 Heart Failure Monitor engages patients through personalized daily interactions and questions, while collecting vital signs and transmitting the information directly into a database. It is available in both a wireless configuration and through hook-up to regular telephone lines. The data is regularly monitored by a remotely located medical professional, who watches for any abnormal readings that may signal a change in the patient’s health status. These changes are reported back to the treating physician.

“Remote monitoring of heart failure patients forms a cornerstone of heart failure disease management, enhancing the opportunity to avoid episodes of worsening heart failure and emergency hospitalizations,” said William Abraham, M.D., professor of internal medicine and director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at the Ohio State University Medical Center. “In the long run, our goal is to improve quality of life and keep patients out of the hospital.”

On average, Class III heart failure patients are hospitalized on an emergency basis six days of every six months. The company said one of the goals of the Bioheart 3370 At-Home Heart Failure Monitor is to significantly reduce the number of emergency hospitalization days and their associated costs.

The Bioheart 3370 At-Home Heart Failure Monitor will be available through physician prescription.

For more information: www.rtx.dk, www.bioheartinc.com