Health

Gran becomes the first person in Britain to get a ‘game-changing’ in-heart computer that could save the NHS £75m a year


A GRAN has become the first person in Britain to get a revolutionary in-heart computer.

The wireless implant beams data back to medics, telling them how Margaret McDermott’s ticker is coping.

 Margaret McDermott has become the first person in Britain to have an in-heart monitor fitted, and she says it 'really feels like a miracle'

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Margaret McDermott has become the first person in Britain to have an in-heart monitor fitted, and she says it ‘really feels like a miracle’

The monitor, on trial in the UK, sends doctors real-time readings — allowing them to intervene before patients’ health deteriorates further.

The makers claim if it is rolled out across Britain it could drastically reduce hospital admissions and save the NHS up to £75million a year.

Margaret, 75, of Birmingham, had the gadget implanted in her heart’s left atrium during an hour-long operation and says it has already changed her life for the better.

She said: “It’s wonderful. Every day I wake up and I can breathe, I’m not out of breath.

Before I was really struggling and relying on inhalers. It really feels like a miracle.”

KEEP THOUSANDS OUT OF HOSPITAL

Margaret is among ten patients taking part in trials.

Around a million people in Britain suffer heart failure — a condition in which the heart becomes too weak to pump blood around the body properly. It is the leading cause of hospital admissions for over-65s.

The device, the world’s first in-heart microcomputer, is made by Israeli firm Vectorious. It claims if the device was rolled out nationally here it could help keep thousands out of hospital.

Every day I wake up and I can breathe, I’m not out of breath. Before I was really struggling and relying on inhalers.

Margaret McDermott

Currently, NHS treatment for heart patients only changes once they suffer from worsening symptoms.

The trial of the device was announced ahead of the European Society of Cardiology conference in Paris.

Experts said the “battery-less” technology should last a lifetime. It is said to be the most accurate form of home heart monitoring yet available.

Each day patients place a strap across their chest for five minutes. It sends the results to a hospital team, flagging any problems to medics so they can intervene much earlier.

Currently, if doctors want to check changes to heart signs patients must first be admitted to hospital.

Researcher Professor Francisco Leyva, consultant cardiologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, said: “This new device has the potential to combat three of the biggest problems relating to heart failure disease — low patient quality of life, repeat admissions to hospital and the astronomical cost to the system of readmissions.”

Nearly half of heart failure patients end up back in hospital after initial treatment.

Oren Goldshtien, head of Vectorious, said: “We believe the monitor is a game changer in helping the million people living with heart failure in the UK take control and manage their disease.”

 The monitor beams real-time readings back to doctors to tell them how someone's heart is coping

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The monitor beams real-time readings back to doctors to tell them how someone’s heart is coping
 It allows medics to intervene before a patient's health deteriorates

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It allows medics to intervene before a patient’s health deteriorates
 Experts claim the 'battery-less' technology should last a lifetime

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Experts claim the ‘battery-less’ technology should last a lifetime
NHS video explains how the coronary arteries work and how heart disease develops


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