Sentara Cardiovascular Research Institute announced it is one of 35 heart centers in the U.S. involved in clinical trials studying the safety and efficacy of a heart monitor designed to warn patients of an impending heart attack. Riverside Regional Medical Center has been a part of the trial since 2009.

The trial involves implanting a device, called the AngelMed Guardian, just under the skin in a patient’s chest with wires connected to the heart. Smaller than a flip phone, the device is designed to monitor the heart for changes indicating it’s not getting enough oxygen. If something’s wrong, it will alert the patient by sending a wireless message to a pager-like device carried by the patient. that way, the patient can get to the hospital faster.

“The first few minutes of a heart attack are most dangerous, and every minute lost means more damage to the heart muscle. This study is designed to help our cardiac patients who are at high risk of having another heart attack improve their chances of survival. The hope is for them to get a warning even before symptoms occur,” says cardiologist Allen Ciuffo, M.D., principal investigator at Sentara Cardiovascular Research Institute.

One of every six deaths in the U.S. is due to heart disease, and 50 percent of heart attack deaths occur within one hour of symptoms or before the patient reaches the hospital, according to the American Heart Association. Other studies have shown that most damage to the heart occurs within two hours of blood flow being blocked from the heart muscle.

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A Riverside patient holds an AngelMed device.

Image of the AngelMed device implanted in a Riverside patient’s chest.