Universal Medical Device Identifier to Improve Emergency Triage

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Abstract Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Devices (CIEDs) like a Permanent Pacemaker or Implantable Defibrillator are implanted in over 3 million Americans, with the average age of implantation in the 60s, 40% ≥ 70 years old, and 28% ≥ 80 years old. When a patient presents to the Emergency Department (ED) with an unknown CIED, reprogramming of the device is often necessary for their treatment. Every patient should know their device type and manufacturer. This information is particularly important, as every device can be interrogated only by a programmer (a custom computer and magnetic wand) from the CIED’s specific manufacturer. However, in emergency situations, elderly patients may not have their device information or may be unable to communicate with hospital personnel, leading to delays in proper treatment. Most often, ED staff use an x-ray to attempt to read the manufacturer and device type, simply to help determine the correct manufacturer to ask for assistance. To facilitate prompt and thorough patient treatment, CIED manufacturers typically provide personnel who are on call in or near medical facilities to assist with any device-related issues. To solve this problem, BridgeSource Medical proposes a portable handheld device that can interrogate CIEDs from any manufacturer either in the ED, or in transit to the ED, eliminating the need for a time-consuming and unnecessary x-ray, and enabling first-line medical personnel. The proposed device identifier works by mimicking the “wakeup call” communication of the five major CIED programmers in sequence, and would identify each device by analyzing the response from the CIED.