"Pacemaker technology has extended the lives of millions of patients since Medtronic founder Earl Bakken invented the first battery-operated pacemaker more than 50 years ago," said Pat Mackin, senior vice president, Medtronic, and president of the Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management business. "Today we are building pacemakers and other devices from the ground up to ensure they meet the increasingly complex medical needs of today's patients."

Approximately 2 million Europeans have implanted pacemakers, but these patients are prohibited from receiving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, a widely practiced diagnostic method for many common diseases and conditions, because their device could interact with MRI machines, potentially affecting the device or patient safety. According to Medtronic estimates, up to 50 percent of patients worldwide with implanted cardiac devices are expected to need an MRI scan during the lifetime of their devices.


About MRI

MRI lets doctors see internal organs, blood vessels, muscles, joints, tumors, areas of infection and more, without X-rays or surgery, and without exposing the patient to any ionizing radiation. The MRI machine creates a magnetic field, sends radio waves through the body, then measures the response with a computer, creating an image of the inside of the body. In many cases, MRI gives information that cannot be seen on an X-ray, ultrasound or computed tomography (CT) scan.

ASTM International is an international standards organization that has developed a classification system for implanted and ancillary clinical devices:

* MR Safe: An item that poses no known hazards in all MR environments.
* MR Conditional: An item that has been demonstrated to pose no known hazards in a specified MR environment with specified conditions of use.
* MR Unsafe: An item that is known to pose hazards in all MR environments.

Editor's Note: The EnRhythm MRI SureScan Pacing System safety and efficacy data was presented by Prof. Torsten Sommer on 31 August at the ESC Congress.

Caution: The EnRhythm MRI SureScan Pacing System is investigational and not currently available for sale in the United States. The device is limited by federal law to investigational use only.

About Medtronic

Medtronic, Inc. (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Minneapolis, is the global leader in medical technology - alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world.

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