Laser Doppler monitoring of haemodynamic status during arrhythmias
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessment of Laser Doppler as a method for monitoring haemodynamic status during ventricular arrhythmia
IRAS ID
165190
Contact name
Daniel Keene
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Ventricular fibrillation and ventricular Tachycardia (VT) are potentially life threatening heart rhythm disturbances. Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD’s) are an important treatment, which reduces the risk of death in people who are at risk of these arrhythmias. While the shock therapy can be lifesaving, experiencing shocks can severely affect quality of life.
ICD’s currently only use electrical measurements, made from within the heart in order to determine when to deliver shock treatment. There are limitations to this approach, which means patients may receive more shocks than are absolutely necessary.
(1) Patients can receive shocks inappropriately. This means they receive a shock when they are not experiencing a ventricular arrhythmia.
(2) They can receive a shock for ventricular tachycardia even though it is not causing severe compromise to the heart’s ability to pump blood (VT may stop by itself without the need for a shock).
If ICD’s had the capability to establish how well the heart is pumping blood this would potentially allow fewer unnecessary shocks to be delivered.
Laser Doppler Perfusion Monitoring (LDPM) is a potential method for achieving this. It has the capability to assess blood flow, currently these measurements are obtained from the skin, but potentially in the future this technology could be incorporated into ICD devices.
The aim of this study is to assess whether measurements made non-invasively, using the Laser Doppler sensor, accurately reflect changes in blood pressure and blood flow to the brain which occur with different heart rates and different heart rhythms. We will make these non-invasive measurements when patients attend for implantation of ICD devices or during routine electrophysiology testing (invasive clinical procedures to investigate and treat heart rhythm disturbances).REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/2158
Date of REC Opinion
23 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion