Dr. Philip J. Devereaux from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University and Dr. Marko Mrkobrada from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University had the choice of several technologies to conduct their multicentre study attempting to understand the links between noncardiac surgeries and stroke. Among other things, they needed to find an effective, user-friendly method of determining the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) before surgery as well as the incidence of the same arrhythmia after surgery.
For Dr. Mrkobrada, it was the easiest of choices: “After several weeks of use in a clinical context, I have been more than satisfied with the results obtained with CardioSTAT. Due to its ability to record high-quality ECG signals over a long period, it proved to be effective in detecting AF. Moreover, its small size and comfort will facilitate recruiting the hundreds of subjects needed for our study.”
Designed to be invisibly worn under clothing, the CardioSTAT monitor is a thin, flexible strip designed to be worn on the upper chest. Comfortable both at night and during the day, it can be worn during physical activity and in the shower. CardioSTAT enables lengthened monitoring periods extending over several weeks, which increases the detection rate of heart rhythm abnormalities.
NeuroVision is the largest study ever carried out to understand the links between noncardiac surgery and stroke. It is a worldwide study involving centres around the world including London, Hamilton and Vancouver in Canada, Madison WI (USA), Bangalore (India), Hong Kong, Auckland (New Zealand), Krakow (Poland), Santiago (Chile) and Lima (Peru).