A YORK-based company has launched a device enabling patients to fit heart monitors in their own home.

Icentia Ltd, a medical device and service company, manufactures CardioStat heart monitors which are used on patients with palpitations and suspected heart rhythm abnormalities.

It launched its CardioStat Home Application in response to the pandemic so that patients could receive and fit the monitors in the comfort and safety of home.

CardioStat is a compact, light and comfortable ambulatory ECG recorder that provides up to 14 days of high-quality ECG recording.

The remote heart monitors are typically used for patients who suffer from troublesome palpitations or episodes of dizziness.

Icentia, which was set up in May 2018 and is based at York Science Park with a team of 14 people, works to improve patient access to diagnostic tests.

A company spokesman said: "This means that patients don’t have to attend hospital or clinic appointments for heart monitors to be fitted or removed which minimises the coronavirus infection risk, unnecessary patient anxiety and potentially long delays resulting from some hospital services being scaled back.

"Along with the CardioStat monitor, the patients are provided with prepaid tracked envelopes and all they have to do is simply pop the device in the post at the end of the prescribed duration and return it to the Icentia office,s based in York, for analysis.

"The test results are then sent via a secure portal directly to the prescribing cardiologists for review."

Several trusts up and down the country have now taken up this service, including Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) in North Wales, which comprises of three district hospitals.

BCUHB said they were offering about 1,300 patients the opportunity to have heart monitors sent to them by post.

These can then be fitted and analysed without any need for the patient to attend one of North Wales’ three district hospitals.

The device is a welcome addition to the healthcare services in the area where clinic space and staffing levels are restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The CardioStat monitors detect patients’ heart rhythm and electrical activity.

Sensors attached to the skin are used to detect the electrical signals produced by the heart each time it beats.

The results are analysed by Icentia and any significant abnormalities are highlighted immediately to NHS staff, enabling patients to receive prompt treatment.