Virtual E-health System for Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (VIRTUES ICD)

May 7, 2026 updated by: Ratika Parkash

Virtual Integrated Reliable Transformative User-driven E-health System for Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators

This is a Canadian multicenter randomized controlled trial to assess remote patient management. Patients will be randomized to remote patient management with VIRTUES versus usual care, and will be stratified by RemoteView vs no RemoteView utilization, as well as by center.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Remote monitoring (RM) has been in use for over a decade and is now used in a blended system of in clinic visits and RM to provide CIED follow up. Prior studies have focused on this blended model of follow up. In this study, we propose a paradigm shift in CIED follow up care that is fully remote, supported by a patient-centered communication system permitting patients to have greater understanding of their CIED and its function. Patients would not have to leave their own communities to obtain state-of-the art care for their cardiac condition or their CIED. Given the burgeoning use of CIEDs (ICDs and PMs), the aging population and particularly in Canada where 19% of the inhabitants are in communities classified as 'rural', many have long distances to travel to reach a health care facility, it is of the utmost importance to take full advantage of available and developing technologies to improve CIED follow up beyond current recommendations. During the life of these patients, many issues may arise, such as atrial or ventricular arrhythmias that may result in syncope, stroke or sudden death, need for increased monitoring resulting from device advisories, or minor programming adjustments to improve device performance, or simply the need for enhanced surveillance as the device battery depletes and replacement is anticipated. New technology has become available that not only permits surveillance, but also permits communication back to the patient, and their respective providers regarding the status of these devices. The combination of technologies will result in a total care of CIEDs termed Remote Patient Management - CIED (RPM-CIED). The incorporation of enhanced monitoring capability, along with automatic recalibration of device settings, allows us to develop a new paradigm of remote patient management where after the patient receives their device, they would remain in the care of their local health team ('spokes') and no longer require travel to the specialized device clinics ('hubs') for follow-up. It creates capacity in the specialized centers to focus exclusively on the problematic cases by removing the need for routine checks.

There are two avenues of new technology that will be used in this study:

  1. Remote View: this secure, web-based portal facilitates a virtual view of the device programming by the specialist in real-time while the patient is in their local clinic, thus avoiding patient travel to the specialized clinic (hub).
  2. VIRTUES (Virtual Integrated Reliable Transformative User-driven E-health System): this portal has been developed by the Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada to allow the patient to receive reports from the remote transmissions of their device.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
1115

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada
        • Foothills Hospital
    • British Columbia
      • Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, V8Z 0B9
        • Victoria Cardiac Arrhythmia Trials
    • Manitoba
      • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
        • St. Boniface Hospital
    • New Brunswick
      • Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
        • Saint John Regional Hospital
    • Nova Scotia
      • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 3A7
        • QEII HSC
    • Ontario
      • Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
        • St. Mary's General Hospital
      • London, Ontario, Canada
        • London Health Sciences Center
      • Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, L3Y 2P6
        • Southlake Regional Health Centre
    • Quebec
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1T 1C8
        • Montreal Heart Institute
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada
        • Hopital SacreCoeur
      • Québec, Quebec, Canada, G1V 4G5
        • Hôpital Laval
      • Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, J1H 5N4
        • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with a Medtronic, Abbott or Boston Scientific defibrillator/CRT-D capable of remote monitoring with Carelink, Merlin or Latitude.
  2. Able to provide consent.
  3. Age >/= 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. No family physician or general practitioner
  2. Inability to be referred to a specialist
  3. Currently followed more than every 6 months by a Heart Function Clinic
  4. Participation in another randomized clinical trial that impacts outcome
  5. Unreliable automated capture verification by device in pacemaker dependent patient

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Remote Patient Management
Patients will be followed by remote monitoring only.
Device: Remote Patient Management
  1. Transmissions will occur at six monthly intervals, with no in-clinic visits. If there is an actionable event on the remote transmission, patients will be seen at their closest community clinic.
  2. All patients will be required to follow up with their family physician at least annually, and their cardiologist at least every 2 years.
  3. Patients will be contacted by phone at 6 months and 12 months to document their current health status (change in cardiovascular medications, any cardiovascular hospitalizations, in-clinic device checks, or any new cardiovascular testing completed since the last visit)
  4. VIRTUES access
Placebo Comparator: Standard of Care
Remote monitoring at 6 month intervals, alternating with yearly in-clinic visits at their usual site.
Device: Standard of Care
No intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to major adverse cardiac event (primary safety outcome)
Time Frame: 18 months
Time to a major adverse event, including: death, stroke, hospitalization for complications relating to the device system, cardiovascular hospitalization, syncope, device-related Emergency Department visits.
18 months
Time to a device-detected event (primary efficacy outcome)
Time Frame: 18 months
The response time from a clinical event to a clinical decision in response to arrhythmias, cardiovascular disease progression, and device issues with remote patient management as compared to standard of care
18 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to detection of ventricular arrhythmia events
Time Frame: 18 months
device-detected ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia
18 months
Cost effectiveness
Time Frame: 18 months
An economic evaluation will include a cost utility analysis
18 months
Medication Compliance
Time Frame: 18 Months
Compliance will be measured according to current Canadian Cardiovascular Society Heart Failure Guidelines
18 Months
Minimum programming compliance
Time Frame: 18 months
Minimum ICD programming according to Canadian Heart Rhythm Society programming recommendations
18 months
Number of clinical events leading to a change in medication
Time Frame: 18 months
Events detected by the ICD that lead to a clinical decision to change medication
18 months
Inappropriate ICD shocks
Time Frame: 18 months
Number of inappropriate ICD shocks
18 months
Appropriate ICD shocks
Time Frame: 18 months
Number of appropriate ICD shocks
18 months
Detection of atrial high-rate episodes
Time Frame: 18 months
Device detected high-rate episodes greater than 6 minutes
18 months
Number of Cardiovascular-related ER visits
Time Frame: 18 months
Number of cardiovascular-related visits (<24 hours)
18 months
Number of Device-Related ER visits
Time Frame: 18 Months
ER visits (<24 hrs) for a device-related reason (including an audio signal from the device (beeping), shock(s), or a device complication requiring medical attention)
18 Months
Rate of syncope
Time Frame: 18 months
Syncope
18 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Ratika Parkash

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Medtronic
Abbott Medical Devices
Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Ratika Parkash, MD FRCPC, Nova Scotia Health Authority

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 1, 2020

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 15, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 15, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 23, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 7, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • RP005

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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