FDA approves three St. Jude Medical devices.

Saint Paul, MN-based St. Jude Medical has been granted FDA approval for three of its medical devices: Current and Promote implantable defibrillators and the OptiSense pacing lead for pacemakers.

Current, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, is designed to treat arrhythmia. Promote treats heart failure by synchronizing the beating of the ventricles, the company said. Both products include the ability to be reprogrammed quickly, and they contain technology that protects patients against shocks. In addition, these items can vibrate to alert patients to problems.

OptiSense is an insulated wire that enables pacemakers to receive a better read on signals from the right atrium of the heart. According to St. Jude, the device minimizes signals from the ventricles--an occurrence that has been shown to reduce a pacemaker's effectiveness.