Wednesday, November 03, 2010

A New Leadless Pacemaker-Pill?

The weak link in any pacemaker system are the leads that attach to the heart. Now a new innovation under development by Medtronic is on the horizon that might combine the pacemaker and lead together on a pill-sized device installed in the heart percutaneously:
The company has been developing the pacemaker for about a year now. It looks a cross between a battery and a beetle, with bug-like antenna sweeping back from one end.

The technology has yet to be tested in animals -- never mind humans. It's about five years away from being ready for market, if it's approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
While this first device will offer only backup VVI pacing, using several such devices controlled wirelessly might offer even more potential for sequential or simultaeous multi-sight pacing some day.

Very cool.

-Wes
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousWed Nov 03, 07:45:00 PM CDT

    visual pacing? (multi-sight) :), that'd be way cool

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  2. AnonymousWed Nov 03, 09:20:00 PM CDT

    1. large sheath for placement
    2. if it dislodges, that's a very interesting pulmonary embolism
    3. infection with no easy percutaneous way to extract
    4. generator change means adding a new device without a safe means to remove the old

    it looks like an interesting idea but I think we will change one problem set for another.

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