A new ePatch device which monitors the heart is being introduced to patients across Frimley Park, Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospitals.

Following successful pilot studies, we are the first Trust in the UK to roll the e-patch out to patients who don’t need to be admitted to hospital, and general cardiology patients.

The ePatch is an adhesive matchbox-sized Holter monitor, used to detect potential cardiac arrythmias such as atrial fibrillation (AF) and angina. It will allow patients to be monitored more quickly, for longer periods, and can find up to 2.5x more clinically relevant heart rhythm disorders compared to traditional Holter monitoring. 

Holter monitors are the most common form of remote ECG monitoring and the conventional types usually require repeat trips to a hospital. Patients need to wear multiple wired ECG electrodes on their chest and are linked to a control unit worn on a belt or necklace.  The data analysis and reporting methods can be labour-intensive and inefficient, leading to long turnaround times.

The Philips ePatch is used with Cardiologs, a cloud-based AI technology analysis platform which interprets the data using a traffic light system. The results are usually turned around within 72 hours  once the clinician has overseen the report.

Traditional Holter devices will still be used for some patients who are staying in hospital, but many will now be able to access the new ePatch, which is made by Philips, to use in the comfort of their own homes.

It is estimated that the use of the patches will double productivity levels for diagnosing heart rhythm problems

Suzanne Jordan, associate director for medicine at Frimley, said of the new monitors:

" We are able to put them on faster, and we’re able to reduce our turnaround times for reports and to get results back to patients faster.

If you think of the bigger picture, it means that we're going to be able to manage our patients quickly. We've been running clinics by seeing maybe 30 patients in one day, whereas before, we were probably seeing 14 maximum, so we've already doubled our productivity.”