Wallace Daniels has a device in his chest that regulates his heartbeat. It senses if he might be going into cardiac arrest, and it “talks” to his doctor every day. The 76-year-old Warminster resident’s Bi-Ventricular Internal Cardiac Defibrillator/Pacemaker (BiV-ICD) contains a tiny transmitter that communicates with a wireless monitor connected to a phone line beside his bed. Each day the monitor transmits information about how his heart and ICD are doing and sends updates to his doctor, Stephen Sloan, MD, a cardiologist at Doylestown Hospital. If the monitor detects a problem, Daniels’ healthcare team knows within hours, rather than weeks.

Doylestown Hospital was among the first community hospital in the area to offer this special BiV-ICD, which is called a cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT-D), for patients with heart failure, a condition that causes the heart to gradually lose its ability to pump blood. The device has two functions – it synchronizes the heartbeat, helping the heart pump more effectively, and it also senses if the heart’s electrical system is working properly. If the heart suddenly starts beating erratically (a condition called arrhythmia, which can lead to sudden cardiac death), the device delivers a burst of electricity to shock it back into normal rhythm.

But the most advanced part of Daniels’ CRT-D is its ability to remotely transmit data that could previously only be collected during an office visit, including how well the heart is beating and whether the battery power is getting low. (Note that only the newest generation CRT-D has this capability.) After the monitor receives the data from the device, it automatically transfers it to a secure server, which is monitored by the device manufacturer’s trained professionals and Dr. Sloan.

“If the patient has a life-threatening incident, we know immediately,” says Dr. Sloan. “Even if there’s a minor problem, we can call patients and ask them to come in to get it fixed. Previously, it could have been months before the problem was detected. In this way, the system provides an extra measure of safety and security for our patients.”