The Montreal Heart Institute is touting a new pacemaker that will allow doctors to monitor a patient's heart from far, far away.
The technology is called Wireless Remote Telemonitoring, and it was implanted in patient Maurice Forest this fall in what's being billed as a Canadian first.
The procedure is used on patients with bradycardia, or an abnormally slow heart rate.
"The (first) patient responded favourably to the procedure," the Montreal Heart Institute said in a statement on Monday.
"Four additional implantations have since been performed, again with successful outcomes."
The pacemaker zaps the heart with a small electrical charge if it starts to beat too slowly.
"There are advantages in terms of safety for the patient. Devices can malfunction. We can also have information about the health status of the patient, and his arrhythmias. Some health conditions could be dangerous and then we would get alerts," explained Dr. Bernard Thibault, a cardiologist with the Montreal Heart Institute.
Doctors can also monitor the patient's condition from a distance, with complete diagnostic data accessible from the physician's office or the patient's home.
The data is usually collected while the patient is sleeping, and the doctor can monitor device performance and the patient's heart rate.
The data can also be transferred into electronic health records, says the heart institute.
Maurice Forest is pleased with the pacemaker so far.
"I was lucky and very happy to get this pacemaker," he said.
