ResMed hits the 1,000-patient milestone for apnea device study

ResMed's VPAP Adapt SV is one of the devices the company is studying in a large-scale trial--courtesy of ResMed

ResMed ($RMD) has big plans for its SERVE-HF study, designed to test whether the company's sleep apnea devices can improve survival rates in patients with stable heart failure. The company wants to enroll 1,250 patients, and it just signed on its 1,000th.

The study, which began in 2008, tests whether the VPAP Adapt SV and AutoSet CS ventilators can effectively treat sleep-disordered breathing in heart failure patients, aiming to improve mortality rates and quality of life by reducing hospital visits and medical complications related to respiratory issues. The two devices use ResMed's proprietary adaptive servo-ventilation technology, a non-invasive method that monitors and regulates breathing throughout the night.

The goal is to link the treatment of breathing disorders with the field of cardiology, ResMed said in a statement. If the study yields positive results, heart doctors will likely turn to respiratory devices to help treat their patients, which could be a boon to the industry. "Tight collaboration between cardiologists and sleep physicians is needed if [sleep-disordered breathing] care is to improve worldwide," co-principal investigator Helmut Teschler said in a statement. "The findings of the SERVE-HF study may ensure that this happens in the future."

Positive results would be more good news for ResMed, which reported a 21% year-over-year increase in net income last quarter, due in part to an 18% boost in revenues from the Americas. If its ventilators can get indications for treatment of heart failure, even greater profits could be on the horizon.

- read ResMed's release