Engineers from Northwestern University have developed the world’s smallest pacemaker. It is so small that it fits on the tip of a syringe. This means it can be injected, so patients can potentially avoid painful surgery.
It dissolves safely in the blood after a while, so it is a temporary solution. It is designed for people who need short-term cardiac care, such as newborn babies with congenital defects. However, it can work with hearts of any size.
It is also powered by light. The pacemaker works in conjunction with a wireless device that is attached to the patient’s chest. When this small device detects an irregular heartbeat, it emits light that activates the pacemaker. These light pulses can travel through the patient’s skin, bones, and muscles.
Despite the fact that the pacemaker is tiny, one millimeter thick, it provides the same stimulation as a full-sized device. The engineers published their results in the journal Nature and noted that the device works with both animal and human hearts. The team also emphasized that pediatrics is the primary use case.
“About one percent of children are born with congenital heart disease,” said Igor Efimov, an experimental cardiologist from the Northwest region who was one of the study leaders. “The good news is that these children need only temporary pacing after surgery. After about seven days, the hearts of most patients will repair themselves. But these seven days are absolutely critical. Now we can install this tiny pacemaker on a child’s heart and stimulate it with a soft, gentle, easy-to-wear device. And no additional surgery is required to remove it.”
The development of this medical device was led by John Rogers, whose name is well known in biomedical circles. Rogers has been behind a number of impressive innovations over the years. He has developed technology that could eventually give us invisibility cloaks and health-tracking tattoos. He also created a UV sensor the size of a thumbnail and a circuit that dissolves in the body. The latter eventually led to the creation of this innovative pacemaker.
Rogers envisions a world in which doctors administer several of these pacemakers at the same time to enable complex synchronization. This could help stop arrhythmias because different parts of the heart could work in a unique rhythm.
“Because it’s so small, this pacemaker can be integrated with virtually any implanted device,” Rogers said. “Here, the tiny pacemakers can be activated as needed to address complications that may arise during the patient’s recovery process.”
This versatility could eventually open up a wide range of medical possibilities. The technology can be used to repair nerves, treat wounds, and block pain.
