Biotronik introduces the world’s first and only implantable defibrillators eligible for magnetic resonance imaging

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Biotronik announced the first implantations of the new Lumax 740 implantable cardiac defibrillators in European countries. According to the company, this is the world’s first and only ICDs eligible for use with magnetic resonance imaging.

ProMRI, an MR conditional feature, combined with the product’s extended device longevity and Biotronik Home Monitoring, brings the Lumax 740 series to the forefront of cardiac devices for patients with tachyarrhythmias. Furthermore, a new intracardiac impedance assessment technology integrated into the Lumax HF-T device will be evaluated in clinical studies: this research feature aims to enhance therapy for heart failure patients in the future.


After receiving CE approval on 18 November, the first device implantations were performed at a number of hospitals in several European countries.


“Biotronik’s ProMRI innovation in the Lumax 740 series is an important breakthrough for patients needing ICDs,” said Massimo Santini, director of the Cardiovascular Department of San Filippo Neri Hospital, Rome, and president of World Society of Arrhythmias. “Until now, patients with an ICD had been excluded from undergoing MR scans despite the fact that these scans are critical for the diagnosis and therapy of patients with serious medical conditions, such as cancer, stroke and other neurologic and orthopaedic conditions.”


Santini continued, “The ability to use MR scans is extremely important and will become even more important in the future. MR scans deliver superior imaging quality and do not require any exposure to radiation. Hence, the Lumax 740 is really a device for the future.”


“The ability to more accurately predict progressing heart failure would represent a major step forward for implant technology and functionality,” said Gunnar Klein, Clinic for Cardiology and Angiology, University Hospital Hannover, Germany and coordinating clinical investigator of the Lumax 740 Master Study. “Currently there is no completely reliable way to ensure that physicians have sufficient time to intervene before patient status becomes critical and the situation results in acute hospitalisation; the intracardiac impedance measurement is an innovative sensor-technology to study because it can contribute to the development of a reliable algorithm for early prediction of worsening heart failure.”