Health First Cardiologist Dr. Kevin Campbell Deploys First-of-Its-Kind Cardiac Monitor

AI-enabled BIOMONITOR IV by BIOTRONIK promises improved diagnoses, patient care

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – When Richard Dean went in for his annual checkup, he had little idea he had an atrial flutter, but Dean and his doctor quickly agreed that it may be masking a more serious condition – atrial fibrillation – and that his heart would need monitoring.

He had no clue that it would lead to him being a medical first in Central Florida.

On June 20, Dean was the first in the region to receive the BIOMONITOR IV implantable cardiac monitor (ICM) from BIOTRONIK. The latest version of the ICM is enabled by artificial intelligence that reduces false positive detections 86% while preserving 98% of the true episodes.

“This BIOMONITOR IV gives us the ability to more accurately measure heart rhythms, and it allows us to determine if the patient is having atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, which has a huge impact on the way we care for them,” said Health First Cardiologist Kevin Campbell, MD.

BIOMONITOR IV has a battery life of five years. It also produces “some of the best electrograms I’ve seen,” Campbell says – “I can certainly tell whether the patient is in regular rhythm or not, and with little artifact.”

Fabio Vassao, a Regional Sales Director for BIOTRONIK, and Chad Neisler, a Sales Representative for the company, were on hand for the first procedure.

Neisler said the software, powered by AI, is largely responsible for that clarity, which “cuts down on the clinical staff’s work but without the physicians missing a thing.” Vassao said the device is the first one that can discriminate premature atrial contractions (PAC) from premature ventricular contractions (PVC).

Those different diagnoses can send a patient on vastly different courses of care.

Dr. Campbell said that, in Dean’s case, it will help determine whether he needs to be on a blood thinner, which is an important lifestyle factor for anyone – athletes especially.

Now in his 70s, Dean has competed in Ironman triathlons, surfed, windsurfed and paddleboarded. He’s very active and fit. Because his last EKG showed the potential for atrial fibrillation, he’s been prescribed a blood thinner, but it worries him.

“I’m very active, and the problem with being on a blood thinner is that if I hit myself, if I ride my bicycle and fall and hit my head, I could have a brain hemorrhage.”

“But the nice thing about blood thinners is it keeps the left atrial appendage from developing a blood clot that gets thrown up to my brain and causes stroke.”

For him, the benefits strongly outweigh the costs, but with some luck, Dean said, the monitor will direct his doctors toward a course of cardiac care that would take him off blood thinners.

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