Japan approves St. Judes Merlin programmer for cardiac products

Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has granted regulatory approval for St. Jude Medical’s Merlin Patient Care System, a programmer for cardiac resynchronization therapy devices, implantable cardioverter defibrillators and pacemakers.

The system is designed to allow programming at the time of implant and at patients’ follow-up visits, according to the St. Paul, Minn.-based St. Jude.

The Merlin Patient Care System is a portable computer designed to help physicians efficiently conduct cardiac tests, analyze therapeutic data, diagnostic data and program implanted devices, St. Jude said. Physicians can make changes to device therapy through the system’s LCD touch-screen to decrease follow-up time.

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