A new medical device, smaller than a pack of playing cards, is being tested in Arizona that provides hours of notice before a heart attack occurs, according to reports on CBS News.
The device, called the Fortify VR, is a small defibrillator implanted in the patient's chest that can shock the heart during an irregular heartbeat, but also give a vibratory warning that a person is likely to have a heart attack — sometimes hours before it even happens.
"We insert it under the skin," Andrew Kaplan, M.D., with Banner Heart Hospital told CBS. "It will actually vibrate in the chest. When the patient is having a problem with blood flow, they feel the vibration and they automatically know that is a sign to go to the hospital."
The defibrillator also wirelessly communicates with a receiver that can send information to a local hospital so that doctors can be ready if a patient is having a heart attack, armed with key data on what's happening with the heart.
Officials from Banner Heart Hospital told CBS trials of the device have been extremely successful. Currently, it is only being used in patients who have had heart attacks, but it may one day be offered others prone to heart disease.
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