First patient in UK fitted with sensor to give early heart failure alert

Device is implanted during a simple 45-minute procedure using a small catheter

File image: Pen lid size sesnor new way of monitoring heart failure (PA)

A heart failure patient has become the first in the UK to be fitted with an early warning sensor the size of a pen lid which gives off an alert if their condition deteriorates.

Consultant cardiologists Dr Andrew Flett and Dr Peter Cowburn have pioneered the procedure to fit the FIRE1 System during trials at University Hospital Southampton (UHS), Hampshire.

“The procedure is part of a cutting-edge international research study which intends to prove this new way of monitoring and treating heart failure patients is safe and effective,” a UHS spokeswoman said.