St. Jude Medical announced Thursday that U.S. and European regulators have approved its ShockGuard technology, which is designed to reduce inappropriate shocks in several of its defibrillator models.
This is a new trend in med-tech: Last month, rival Medtronic said the FDA approved its Protecta implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) which also reduces unneeded shocks. ICDs are stopwatch-sized implantable devices that shock the heart if an irregular rhythm is detected. But sometimes, the device will shock the heart when it's not needed, a traumatic and painful event for patients.
St. Jude said it ShockGuard technology can be used in its Fortify ICD and Unify cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator.
Janet Moore covers medical technology for the Star Tribune.
