Magneto-SCD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A multi-centre observational cohort study to identify Magentocardiography (MCG) parameters in the prediction of future ICD therapy.
IRAS ID
254466
Contact name
Faizel Osman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 8 months, 3 days
Research summary
To investigate the ability of a prototype, portable bedside unshielded magnetometer to predict future arrhythmias associated with sudden cardiac death in patients who meet current NICE criteria for Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator implantation.
Sudden cardiac death accounts for over 4 million deaths per year globally. The only effective preventative treatment for this the implantable cardioverter defibrillator - a small pacemaker like device that can halt dangerous heart rhythms. However, identifying those patients at risk of sudden cardiac death has proved difficult with current guidelines relying on overall cardiac function and patient symptoms to determine eligibility for a device. We understand that a feature of sudden cardiac death risk is the presence of abnormal conduction in the heart muscle which creates substrate for the development of reentrant circuits of electrical activity. This then causes heart beats to be unregulated and ineffective at producing output from the heart and can rapidly escalate to death.
Magnetocardiography (MCG) has been suggested as a way of measuring these areas of abnormal conduction and reentrant circuits as it is able to measure the magnetic field associated with the electrical conduction within the heart with spatial separation that electrocardiography (ECG) cannot. This research has previously been limited to a small number of research centres due to the cost of installation and operation of specialist sensors and magnetically shielded rooms. However, a novel prototype portable magnetometer has been developed to work in an unshielded environment. It is hoped that using this we can screen larger numbers of patients and detect differences in the MCGs in those patients who are at higher risk of the arrhythmias leading to sudden cardiac death.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/YH/0143
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion