Royal Philips has unveiled the details of a new study evaluating its BioTel Heart mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry (MCOT) patch for first-line diagnostic ambulatory monitoring solution on post-cryptogenic stroke patients.
The study revealed that a 30-day continuous monitoring programme using the Philips BioTel Heart MCOT patch followed by an implantable loop recorder (ILR) has enhanced the detection rates of atrial fibrillation (AF), an abnormal heart rhythm that can increase the risk of stroke.
It also helped to minimise secondary stroke risk due to new anticoagulant use in subjects with the MCOT patch detected AF.
As per the study, the use of initial MCOT monitoring achieved nearly eight times lower costs, minimising the total cost per patient with detected AF by $198,909, compared to monitoring with ILR only.
The study was carried out for one year on 1,000 people suffering from stroke to differentiate between the costs and outcomes of two monitoring options.
in addition, the study revealed that the MCOT usage followed by ILR in half of the patients initially undiagnosed with AF saved more than $4m. The device detected 4.6 times more patients with AF than ILR alone.
In the case of persons detected with AF, the cost per patient reduced when using the MCOT patch followed by ILR ($29,598) than persons monitored with ILR alone ($228,507), said the company.
Philips ambulatory monitoring and diagnostics general manager Andy Broadway said: “The diagnostic tools clinicians use to monitor this group of patients play an important role in finding the cause of the stroke and developing a personalised treatment plan.
“This new research confirms that using Philips BioTel Heart MCOT as the first line of evaluation is more cost-effective and can provide the level of diagnostic confidence needed to help detect and diagnose atrial fibrillation, and potentially prevent a second stroke.”
