FRIDLEY, Minn.—The FDA has approved Medtronic Inc.’s CareLink, a wireless system that allows doctors to view data from defibrillators implanted in heart patients’ chests via the Internet.
“Medtronic has been focused as a product company,” said Christopher O’Connell, vice president and general manager of Medtronic’s patient management division. “Now we are going into a while new era of post-implant services.”
Initially, only about 23,000 of almost two million Medtronic patients (those using the GEMII DR/VR defibrillator) will be affected by the FDA approval. But the FDA will likely approve other defibrillator models as well as other heart devices for Web monitoring in the next year, according to analysts.
