Kestra Medical Technologies [NASDAQ:KMTS]
Protection Through the Cardiac Recovery Window

A patient’s risk of sudden cardiac arrest does not always lead immediately to a decision about long-term treatment. Physicians may need time to determine whether heart function improves with medication, identify whether an implantable cardioverter defibrillator is appropriate or continue monitoring after a recent cardiac event. During that interval, much of the patient’s recovery takes place outside the hospital.

Kestra Medical Technologies [NASDAQ:KMTS] has designed its ASSURE Cardiac Recovery System for this period of uncertainty. The platform combines the ASSURE Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator, ASSURE Patient App and Kestra CareStation remote patient data platform. Together, they protect patients during daily life while giving care teams access to rhythm information, device-use data and physiological trends.

The model is not just designed for the moment a shock is delivered. It considers whether a patient can tolerate the device, how reliably the system reads the heart during movement and how clinical teams remain connected between appointments.

Protection During a Temporary-Risk Period

The ASSURE system is intended for adult patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest who are not candidates for, or who refuse, an implantable defibrillator. Some may be receiving therapy intended to improve heart function, while others may need protection while physicians reassess their condition.

The ASSURE WCD continuously evaluates heart rhythm and can automatically deliver defibrillation therapy when it detects a qualifying ventricular arrhythmia. Protection does not depend on another person being present to recognize the event and use an external defibrillator.

Yet wearable protection only works when the device remains on the patient. Kestra treats wearability as part of the clinical design. Its SensorFit garments use lightweight, breathable fabric with cushioned, nonadhesive ECG sensors. Multiple garment sizes and styles are intended to fit different body types and sit discreetly under clothing.

The HeartPoint Alert Button gives the patient a direct way to respond to audible, tactile and physical alerts. Its placement matters during an alarm, when the patient must quickly understand what the system is communicating.

Comfort is not a substitute for clinical performance, but it influences consistent use over days or weeks. A device that disrupts sleep, movement or clothing may spend more time off the body. Kestra’s approach connects engineering with the practical reality that patients must live in the system throughout much of the day.

Kestra’s Cardiac Recovery System connects the protection worn by the patient with the information needed by the care team.

Connecting Patients and Care Teams

Monitoring at home is different from capturing an ECG in a controlled examination room. Routine activities can introduce noise, and the device must identify dangerous rhythms without confusing ordinary movement for a cardiac event.

The ASSURE Monitor addresses that challenge through four-channel ECG processing. Quad Channel Processing evaluates multiple ECG channels while requiring only one noise-free channel for rhythm analysis. Adaptive Patient Intelligence adjusts to the patient’s rhythm and filters motion-related artifacts. That work is largely invisible to the wearer, but it shapes their experience. False alarms can interrupt sleep, create anxiety and reduce willingness to keep the system on. Rhythm discrimination affects both analytical reliability and adherence.

Kestra reports that 94 percent of patients in its ACE-PAS data did not experience a false shock alarm. It also reports a first-shock success rate above 95 percent and median daily wear of more than 23 hours. These findings illustrate the relationship between sensing performance, alarm accuracy and patient adherence, since the device can provide protection only while it is being worn.

The wearable stays with the patient, but the recovery process still belongs to a clinical team. Information must move back to the people managing medication, reviewing arrhythmias and deciding whether treatment should change.

The ASSURE Patient App provides that connection from the patient side by transmitting heart-rhythm information at defined intervals and permitting patient-initiated transmission. Patients can review wear time, monitor activity, access educational materials and find guidance on using the system.

Kestra CareStation gives clinicians access to reports involving ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, bradycardia, asystole and non-sustained ventricular arrhythmias. It also displays WCD use and physical activity trends, supported by configurable notifications and a population-level dashboard. By organizing rhythm events, wear-time trends and physiological data into a single platform, CareStation supports clinical follow-up and treatment decisions.

Recovery becomes more observable rather than being reconstructed at the next appointment. Patients can see their own use and activity, while care teams receive data that may shape follow-up and treatment planning.

Supporting Recovery Beyond the Hospital

Kestra also extends the pathway beyond therapy delivery. Through ASSURE Assist, an emergency-services operator attempts to contact the patient after a shock. If the patient cannot be reached, the operator may contact the designated emergency contact and request emergency services under the conditions defined for the service.

The company is clear about the limits. ASSURE Assist depends on the mobile device being powered, connected and within range, with the required permissions enabled. The patient app is not a substitute for appropriate emergency medical attention and should not be the sole method of contacting emergency services.

For patients who no longer require therapeutic protection, Kestra offers the ASSURE Wearable ECG, a non-therapeutic device that continues rhythm monitoring after WCD therapy. It uses the same SensorFit garment design, detection technology and patient app while collecting heart-rate and rhythm information without delivering defibrillation therapy. When the device detects a heart rhythm episode, it automatically records the event, generates notifications and transmits physiological trend data to Kestra CareStation for clinician review. The transition preserves familiarity for the patient while giving the physician another period of observation at a lower level of intervention.

This continuity explains why ASSURE is a Cardiac Recovery System and not just a wearable defibrillator. Protection, patient participation, clinical reporting, post-event support and continued ECG monitoring sit within the same platform.

Real-world findings from ACE-PAS add evidence to that model, but the larger story is how the system connects. Kestra addresses the vulnerable interval between acute risk and longer-term clinical direction by linking the protection worn by the patient with the information needed by the care team.

Its strength is the connected pathway. Instead of treating cardiac protection as a single device function, Kestra has built a system around the time patients spend living, waiting and recovering between clinical decisions.