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2011
Conference Paper
Title
Implantable sensor for continuous pulmonary artery hemodynamic monitoring in heart failure patients (COMPASS)
Abstract
Introduction Heart Failure is the most frequent reason for hospital admissions in Germany since 2006 and is, moreover, one of the most cost-intensive chronic diseases. The largest part of costs is attributable to hospital treatment. Therefore, an im-plantable monitor is developed to detect increasing pulmonary artery (PA) pressure as an early sign of cardiac decom-pensation, thus allowing the physician to timely adjust heart failure therapy to prevent hospitalisation. Methods A sensor capsule containing a capacitive pressure transducer is implanted in the PA and securely hold in place by a fixation. The capsule is connected via a lead to a subcutaneously implanted housing containing the battery, memory, control and telemetry units. Outside the body, a Biotronik CardioMessenger enhanced with a barometric pressure sensor receives pressure data from the implant and transmits them to a Service Center. Results Mechanical design, material and surface properties of the sensor capsule and cable including the fixation as well as im-plantation procedure have been investigated and optimized in 6 acute and 5 chronic animal experiments. As a result, a delivery system was designed that allows a reproducible implantation procedure in animals. Moreover, first acute PA pressure measurements with sensor prototypes were successfully performed. Conclusion First acute results demonstrate the general feasibility of physiological PA pressure measurements, the fixation has shown to be stable in chronic experiments with dummy implants. Chronic experiments with the complete measurement system will start next.
Author(s)