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Philips Medical Systems/ The leader in Non-invasive Stress and T-Wave Alternans Testing! 
Cambridge Heart, Inc.,
located in Bedford, Massachusetts, was
founded in 1992 to develop and market breakthrough products in noninvasive
cardiac diagnosis.
The
CH 2000 measures T-wave alternans using proprietary algorithms during a
standard stress test with conventional exercise protocols. The CH 2000
Cardiac Diagnostic System from Cambridge Heart, Inc. is the first and only
system cleared by FDA to predict ventricular tachyarrhythmias!
Key BenefitsT-wave alternans represents an every-other-beat alternation in the morphology of the T-wave in an A-B, A-B pattern. Since first reported by Herring in 1909. T-wave alternans has been associated with a variety of clinical conditions including prolonged QT syndrome, acute myocardial ischemia, and electrolyte disturbance, and has often been associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmias and adverse outcomes. However, visually apparent T-wave alternans is a rare electrocardiographic finding and lacks value as a clinical tool. Research conducted in the early 1980's at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School demonstrated T-wave alternans to be more prevalent than previously thought - although often at the level of several microvolts - too small to be visibly apparent on the electrocardiogram. These early studies demonstrated that the presence of these microvolt levels of T-wave alternans was indicative of electrically unstable myocardium. Recent studies have demonstrated
that T-wave alternans, measured with the heart rate elevated to approximately
105 BPM using pacing or exercise, is highly predictive of subsequent
ventricular tachyarrhythmias and sudden death in patients with a variety
of clinical conditions.
In these studies this non-invasive technique was comparable in predictive
accuracy to electrophysiology study, and better than other noninvasive markers
of arrhythmia risk.
Using the spectral method
developed at MIT and sophisticated signal-processing techniques developed by
Cambridge Heart, the Cambridge Heart CH 2000 Cardiac Diagnostic System is able
to measure microvolt level T-wave alterans
during standard bicycle exercise protocols or during pharmacological stress or
pacing. (Treadmill capability to be released in mid-1999). Clinical
studies indicate that the presence of microvolt levels of T-wave alternans in
patients with known, suspected or at risk of ventricular tachyarrhythmia,
predicts increased risk of a cardiac event (ventricular tachyarrhythmia or
sudden death). For more detailed information about Cambridge Heart, click here:
Pacific West Medical stocks all of the supplies that you need for Cambridge Heart's systems, including Paper and Electrodes. To arrange an in office Demo, or to get more information, call Pacific West Medical or fill out this form!
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