St. Jude Upgrades All Epic HF, Atlas+ HF Devices

St. Jude Medical has received FDA approval to activate V-V (ventricle-to-ventricle) timing in all models of its Epic HF and Atlas+ HF CRT-Ds (cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators) in an effort to provide cutting-edge technologies to even more heart failure patients.

Patients implanted with these devices now have the therapeutic option of V-V timing programmability, which is designed to optimize the benefits of resynchronization pacing. This upgrade is made possible by a programmer software enhancement, and can be enabled during a patient's regular visit with a clinician.

V-V timing refers to the delay between contraction of the left and right ventricles, compared with simultaneous pulses to both left and right ventricles. The V-V timing feature allows physicians to adjust the delay between ventricular outputs, as well as choose which chamber is paced first.

The feature had previously been available only in certain models of the St. Jude Epic HF and Atlas+ HF CRT-Ds. St. Jude is the only company with FDA approval for V-V timing in CRT defibrillators, according to the company.