Medtronic Announces First In-Office Implant of Insertable Cardiac Monitor

Medtronic announced Thursday the first in-office implant of its Reveal LINQ insertable cardiac monitor, part of the company’s RIO 2 study. The device — the world’s smallest cardiac monitor — was implanted in an office setting in La Jolla, Calif.

The RIO 2 study is evaluating whether the procedure to implant the monitor is as safe when performed in an office as it is when done in a traditional hospital setting. In-office procedures could improve access to the tool and reduce costs to the healthcare system, said John Rogers, the cardiologist who performed the procedure.

RIO 2 is enrolling 540 patients in 30 U.S. centers and 150 patients in 15 centers across Europe, Australia and Canada.

Subjects will receive the monitor in either an office setting or hospital setting and be followed for three months for complications.

The Reveal LINQ was cleared by the FDA in 2014. — Kellen Owings