WASHINGTON (Bernama-WAM) – Scientists at Northwestern University in the United States (US) have developed a pacemaker so tiny it can fit inside the tip of a syringe and be non-invasively injected into the body, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Although compatible with hearts of all sizes, the pacemaker is especially suited to the tiny, fragile hearts of newborns with congenital heart defects.
Smaller than a grain of rice, the pacemaker is paired with a soft, flexible, wireless wearable device that attaches to the patient’s chest to control pacing.
When the wearable detects an irregular heartbeat, it emits a light pulse through the patient’s skin, breastbone and muscles to activate the pacemaker.
Designed for patients who only require temporary pacing, the device dissolves naturally into the body’s biofluids once it is no longer needed, eliminating the need for surgical removal. All components are fully biocompatible.
“We have developed what is, to our knowledge, the world’s smallest pacemaker,” said John A Rogers, a bioelectronics pioneer at Northwestern who led the development.
Rogers added that the pacemaker’s miniature size enables broad compatibility with various implantable devices.
“There’s a crucial need for temporary pacemakers in the context of paediatric heart surgeries, and that’s a use case where size miniaturisation is incredibly important.“We demonstrated how these tiny pacemakers can be integrated into transcatheter aortic valve replacements and activated as needed during a patient’s recovery. That’s just one example of how we can enhance traditional implants by providing more functional stimulation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Igor Efimov, an experimental cardiologist at Northwestern who co-led the study said, “Our major motivation was children.
“About 1 per cent of children are born with congenital heart defects — regardless of whether they live in a low-resource or high-resource country.
“The good news is that these children only need temporary pacing after surgery. In about seven days or so, most patients’ hearts will self-repair. But those seven days are absolutely critical.
“Now, we can place this tiny pacemaker on a child’s heart and stimulate it with a soft, gentle, wearable device. And no additional surgery is necessary to remove it.”
Efimov added that multiple pacemakers could be deployed on the outer surface of the heart and synchronised for improved functional care.
“We also could incorporate our pacemakers into other medical devices like heart valve replacements, which can cause heart block,” he said.
The technology’s versatility also opens the door to future uses in bioelectronic medicine, including stimulating nerve and bone repair, treating wounds and managing pain.
