20 Jun 2007 07:00
For Immediate Release 20 June 2007 LiDCO Group Plc ('the Company') Grant in the US of a Patent for Setting and Adjusting of a Cardiac Biventricular Pacemaker Supports Interventional Cardiology Opportunity
LiDCO, the UK based, AIM-quoted cardiovascular monitoring company, today announces that it has received confirmation of the approval of its US Patent application for a new method and apparatus for optimally adjusting a biventricular pacemaker - used for the treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF). The method involves the measurement of changes in certain hemodynamic parameters (arterial pulse pressure and stroke volume) that have been shown to reflect improvements in the heart's pumping action (ventricular performance). Using the LiDCOplus Monitor these parameters are measured minimally invasively and beat-to-beat.
Dr Terry O'Brien (Chief Executive of LiDCO) stated: "The use of our technology today is predominantly for the treatment of intensive care and anesthesia patients. However, we have always thought that the interest in using our products within interventional cardiology would grow as the biventricular pacemaker market developed. Accordingly, a number of influential university hospitals are field trialing the use of our technology with a view to improving the response of patients being treated for CHF with implantable biventricular pacemakers. Although this is still somewhat early days, the grant of additional intellectual property in this arena means that if the results of these trials prove positive, we should have a strong and protectable market position."
Background to CHF, the patent and its usefulness in CRT/biventricular pacing:
Progressive congestive heart failure (CHF), is a growing problem among men and women age 50-80 years. The condition affects 2-4 million people in the United States and nearly 15 million people worldwide. The economic cost of heart failure is estimated at $40 billion per year. Heart failure is a clinical syndrome caused by a reduction in the heart's ability to pump blood around the body. The heart's main chambers (the ventricles) should pump simultaneously and in synchrony with the heart's upper chambers (the atria). If the wave of contraction lacks synchrony the heart becomes less efficient as a pump and starts to deteriorate. The problem underlying heart failure is one of delay in the electrical activation of the left ventricle. This causes inefficient pumping of blood to the body. The patient experiences a range of symptoms including shortness of breath, swelling in the ankles or legs, weight gain, and fatigue (`heart failure').
Recent pharmaceutical-based therapeutic advances have resulted in decreased mortality rates in patients with CHF. However, despite these advances the overall long-term prognosis and quality of life are still limited in patients with moderate to severe heart failure. Therefore, device-based therapeutic approaches are also warranted. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), or biventricular pacing, aims to restore synchronous cardiac contraction by delivering electrical impulses to three of the four chambers of the heart - the right atrium and both ventricles. The result is that both ventricles beat in synchrony, thus improving the pumping action of the heart and reducing the symptoms of heart failure. CRT devices are available for sale for the treatment of heart failure and are manufactured and sold by some of the biggest cardiovascular corporations including Medtronic, Guidant and St. Jude Medical. A number of studies have indicated that implantation of these devices improves the clinical symptoms of people with heart failure. The devices cost thousands of pounds each and require a surgical procedure/operation to implant both the device and the wires.
In order to reduce the symptoms of heart failure, CRT devices can adjust/reset the electronic conduction delay times from the atrium to the ventricles, thus reducing the lack of cardiac synchrony. In a significant number of cases this approach does not improve the clinical symptoms of heart failure. This can be because the patient's heart will not respond to this approach, but also because the device has not been optimally set up and/or adjusted to improve the patient's ventricular performance. LiDCO's patent outlines how the LiDCOplus Monitor can be used in conjunction with the outlined method in order to improve patient screening for biventricular pacing suitability, to improve the electrical lead placement, and to optimize pacemaker settings in terms of choosing the appropriate heart rate and various chamber delays.
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For more information please contact:
LiDCO Group Plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7749 1500 Terry O'Brien - Chief Executive
Buchanan Communications Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000 Tim Anderson, James Strong Notes for EditorsAbout LiDCO Group Plc
LiDCO is a UK-based AIM-traded developer, manufacturer and leading supplier of minimally invasive, computer-based hemodynamic monitoring equipment and disposables used primarily for the management of critical care and cardiovascular risk hospital patients. Use of LiDCO's technology has been shown to significantly reduce the complications (particularly infections) and costs associated with major surgery. The technology was invented in the Department of Applied Physiology based at St Thomas' Hospital, London. For more information please see www.lidco.com.
The Company's manufacturing facility is in Hoxton, London and its current products are:
* LiDCOplus and PulseCO monitors: computer-based platforms for displaying a range of real-time, continuous hemodynamic parameters including cardiac output, oxygen delivery and fluid volume;
* LiDCO disposables: used in conjunction with the LiDCOplus Monitor to accurately determine cardiac output in a minimally-invasive manner.
* LiDCOview - software product for use on a PC: designed to aide clinical audit, teaching and research activities.
* LiDCOlive - software product in development for the remote display of hemodynamic monitoring parameters derived through use of the LiDCOplus monitor.
Distribution Network:
The Company has now achieved registration of its products in 14 markets in Europe, the USA, Brazil, South Korea and Japan. It sells direct in the UK and USA, and elsewhere through a worldwide network of specialty critical care distributors.
LIDCO GROUP PLC