What if patients and doctors could monitor heart rhythms with an application on a smart phone?

That’s the direction Kalispell Regional Medical Center’s Ilyas Colombowala is taking after a successful surgery last month left a Kalispell man with a brand-new medical device.

“It’s a small heart rhythm monitor that is placed under the skin,” Colombowala said. “It tracks cardiac rhythm for up to three years. It could actually be for longer than that, but we know it works for that long.”

A heart rhythm doctor at Kalispell Regional’s Rocky Mountain Heart and Lung, Colombowala had performed surgeries like this with other devices, but the new one is smaller and lasts much longer.

Henry Ralston, an elderly Kalispell man, was the first patient in the Northwest to get the new implant, and one of the first in the entire country. He was surprised how easy the whole thing was.

“It was completely uneventful and painless,” he said. “The only pain I felt was the needle for the anesthetic. It was like Novocain at the dentist.”

Ralston had passed out earlier this year and the doctors wanted to be able to monitor his heart rate. The device, the Medtronic Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitoring System, is inserted through a six millimeter-wide incision in the chest skin.

The procedure takes just 15 minutes. At the end of every day, the device sends a report to Rocky Mountain Heart and Lung to be analyzed. 

Colombowala had performed surgeries like this in the past using a larger device. The one under Ralston’s skin is about a third the size of a AAA battery. The previous devices lasted just 30 days and were essentially a stop-gap measure. Ralston’s device should be good for years to come.

“It’s much simpler to put in,” Colombowala said. “It’s wireless and comes with a global cellular communicator.”

The device is small enough that the doctor is able to inject it through the tiny incision. This is quicker and easier for the patient, as Ralston attested. But most of all, he was ecstatic to have such an effective device and to be one of the first to have it.

“I feel honored,” he said. “The procedure itself was so quick. Every day at midnight it sends my heart report to the doctors.”

Colombowala has already performed the procedure on other patients, and believes it is the future of his field. 

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.