Alarm Warns of Heart Attack 
Modern medicine finally has developed a gadget the late comic George Carlin would have loved: a real version of his “2-minute warning.” The AngelMed Guardian lets you know you’re about to have a type of heart attack that often kills its victims before they can reach the hospital.
The device, which is about the size of a matchbox, vibrates when changes in the heart’s electrical pattern signal an imminent heart attack and also sends a message to a pager which sounds a warning. It could warn patients hours, or even days, ahead of a heart attack, allowing them time to get emergency help.
The majority of heart attacks occur when a clot cuts blood supply to the heart and disrupts normal electrical signals. About a third of those who have heart attacks due to clots die before they get to the hospital. Often the delay is because the patient delayed getting help, ignoring warning signs such as pain in the chest, shoulder, back or jaw. A British study found that 42 percent of people with pains indicating a possible heart attack took a “wait and see” attitude. Other patients delayed getting help because they weren’t able to interpret the warnings correctly.
One million heart attacks occur in the United States each year, and approximately 460,000 are fatal. The AngelMed Guardian will allow patients to get to the hospital in time for clot-busting drugs to be administered, cutting death rates as well as reducing heart damage in those who survive.
The AngelMed Guardian, like current pacemakers, is implanted in the chest underneath the left collarbone. A wire with an electrode connects to the heart’s right ventricle, and constantly checks rhythm patterns in the heart. In addition to signaling an imminent heart attack, the data collected by the device can be examined by the doctor at any time via a wireless computer program.
Although not yet approved by the FDA, the AngelMed Guardian has successfully completed a phase one clinical trial and additional trials are beginning. The device is already approved for use in some countries, including Brazil.
Modern medicine finally has developed a gadget the late comic George Carlin would have loved: a real version of his “2-minute warning.” The AngelMed Guardian lets you know you’re about to have a type of heart attack that often kills its victims before they can reach the hospital.
The device, which is about the size of a matchbox, vibrates when changes in the heart’s electrical pattern signal an imminent heart attack and also sends a message to a pager which sounds a warning. It could warn patients hours, or even days, ahead of a heart attack, allowing them time to get emergency help.
The majority of heart attacks occur when a clot cuts blood supply to the heart and disrupts normal electrical signals. About a third of those who have heart attacks due to clots die before they get to the hospital. Often the delay is because the patient delayed getting help, ignoring warning signs such as pain in the chest, shoulder, back or jaw. A British study found that 42 percent of people with pains indicating a possible heart attack took a “wait and see” attitude. Other patients delayed getting help because they weren’t able to interpret the warnings correctly.
One million heart attacks occur in the United States each year, and approximately 460,000 are fatal. The AngelMed Guardian will allow patients to get to the hospital in time for clot-busting drugs to be administered, cutting death rates as well as reducing heart damage in those who survive.
The AngelMed Guardian, like current pacemakers, is implanted in the chest underneath the left collarbone. A wire with an electrode connects to the heart’s right ventricle, and constantly checks rhythm patterns in the heart. In addition to signaling an imminent heart attack, the data collected by the device can be examined by the doctor at any time via a wireless computer program.
Although not yet approved by the FDA, the AngelMed Guardian has successfully completed a phase one clinical trial and additional trials are beginning. The device is already approved for use in some countries, including Brazil.