The LifeVest is a vest-like garment that monitors your heart and delivers shocks to treat abnormal heart rhythms. It also squirts blue gel onto your chest to improve contact for electrical conduction.
The device is made by Zoll Medical, based in O’Hara Township outside Pittsburgh. It has been prescribed to many patients who are at risk of sudden cardiac death.
It’s easy to use
The LifeVest wearable defibrillator (WCD) is a vest-like device designed to help decrease the mortality rate of sudden cardiac arrest. It is used for patients who are at risk of sudden cardiac death but are not candidates for an implantable defibrillator due to their medical condition.
It continuously monitors your heart with dry, non-adhesive sensing electrodes and delivers a shock to stop a life-threatening arrhythmia. The device is similar to the automatic external defibrillator (AED) devices commonly seen in public places and is worn by children and adults. The device consists of a lightweight fabric vest and monitor that are worn all the time except during bathing or showers.
However, the LifeVest has been criticized by many physicians and is not supported by any randomized clinical trial data. If you have been injured by a defective product, contact an experienced defective medical device attorney today to discuss your legal options.
It’s comfortable
A vest-like garment that monitors your heart and detects life-threatening rapid heart rhythms, and can deliver a treatment shock to restore normal heart rhythm. The entire process, from detecting a life-threatening rapid heartbeat to delivering a treatment shock, usually takes less than a minute. The device can protect you from sudden cardiac death, even when you are alone.
It doesn’t require an operator to be nearby or call emergency services. It also can’t be worn in the shower or bathtub. You can wear it during other activities, though.
The team of specialists at Bay Area Cardiology Associates PA can determine if you are a candidate for this lifesaving device during a complete health evaluation. Contact us in Brandon, Sun City Center, Riverview or Tampa, Florida, today to schedule an appointment. Or book a visit online. Element Science has raised $145.6 million in Series C financing to help bring the rival Jewel Patch wearable defibrillator to market. It has a smaller profile and can be worn without the patient having to remove it, making it more likely patients will wear it at all times.
It’s safe
The LifeVest is a wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) that can detect and treat certain life-threatening arrhythmias, such as ventricular fibrillation. The device is lightweight and unobtrusive, and it can save lives even when a person is unconscious or unresponsive.
It works much like the automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that are now commonplace in public places. If you experience a cardiac arrest, the LifeVest will automatically sense your heart rhythm and deliver an electric shock through its garment electrodes. This helps to restore a normal heartbeat, and it usually takes less than a minute to do so.
Patients who have a high risk of sudden death are often candidates for WCDs such as the LifeVest made by ZOLL Medical Corporation. Patients who have had a heart attack, those who have undergone coronary artery bypass surgery or placement of stents, and those with heart failure or cardiomyopathy may be at particular risk for SCD. The LifeVest can help to protect them from these potentially life-threatening arrhythmias, and it provides a way to assess their long-term risk for SCD without having to undergo an implantable defibrillator procedure.
It’s affordable
The LifeVest device monitors your heart rhythm continuously to detect ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, and then delivers an electric shock through its garment electrodes. If the shock corrects your arrhythmia, the LifeVest alarms stop, and the device returns to monitoring mode.
If your abnormal heart rhythm begins again, the LifeVest resumes monitoring and sounds another series of alarms before delivering the next treatment shock. The device also alerts bystanders to stand back, because the shock may be fatal if delivered too close to the body.
The FDA approved the LifeVest for patients who can’t get an implantable defibrillator, such as those waiting for their ejection fraction to improve after a heart attack. But Zoll Corporation, which is now owned by the Ashai Kasei Group of Japan, has been promoting the vest to physicians as an alternative to the standard ICD during that high-risk time period, even though the only randomized study on the subject found no incremental benefit from it over the standard care.
