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<\/p>\nIn the future, abnormal heart rhythms\u00a0could be controlled by a tiny device\u00a0inserted directly into the heart, eliminating\u00a0the wires that are attached to\u00a0standard pacemakers and defibrillators.<\/p>\n
The device could also put an end to the\u00a0invasive surgery needed to implant a\u00a0traditional pacemaker or defibrillator.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aydin Babakhani, Ph.D., formerly of\u00a0Rice University and now associate professor\u00a0of electrical and computer engineering\u00a0at the University of California\u00a0at Los Angeles (UCLA), has been\u00a0working on this device for a year with\u00a0Mehdi Razavi, M.D., director of clinical\u00a0arrhythmia research and innovation at\u00a0Texas Heart Institute (THI).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ideal technology we will have\u00a0will precisely control the electrical\u00a0pulse,\u201d said Babakhani, who directs\u00a0UCLA\u2019s integrated sensors laboratory.\u00a0\u201cIt is surprising that this has not been\u00a0done in the last 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traditional pacemakers and\u00a0defibrillators are implanted near the\u00a0heart. Pacemakers help control heart\u00a0rhythms through electrical pulses\u00a0from a wire lead that connects to the\u00a0heart. Defibrillators also monitor heart\u00a0rhythms, delivering shocks when they\u00a0sense an abnormality. The shocks are\u00a0not only painful, but can be stressful to\u00a0the patient.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the new battery-less\u00a0pacemaker designed by Babakhani and\u00a0Razavi\u2014about the size of a dime\u2014harvests\u00a0energy wirelessly from microwaves\u00a0transmitted by a battery pack\u00a0that can be worn outside\u00a0the body.<\/p>\n
The chip in\u00a0the pacemaker\u00a0is less than 4\u00a0millimeters\u00a0wide, and\u00a0pacing\u2014the rhythm\u00a0of contraction\u00a0and\u00a0relaxation in\u00a0the heart\u2014can be\u00a0adjusted by\u00a0increasing or\u00a0decreasing the power\u00a0transmitted to the receiving\u00a0antenna in the chip.<\/p>\n
The new pacemaker provides\u00a0solutions to many\u00a0of the complications\u00a0associated with\u00a0pacemakers and\u00a0defibrillators,\u00a0said Razavi,\u00a0an associate\u00a0professor at\u00a0Baylor College\u00a0of Medicine.<\/p>\n
Some side\u00a0effects of the\u00a0wire leads include\u00a0bleeding and infection.\u00a0In addition, the\u00a0continuous beating of the heart\u00a0can cause the wire\u2019s insulation to fail\u00a0over time. Twenty percent of leads have\u00a0issues after 20 years, Razavi said.<\/p>\n
Other recently introduced lead-less\u00a0pacemakers also reduce these complications,\u00a0but they are unable to provide\u00a0dual-chamber or biventricular pacing,\u00a0which Babakhani and Razavi aim to do\u00a0with their device.<\/p>\n
In addition, if a patient with the\u00a0device ends up in the intensive care\u00a0unit, the external battery back could be\u00a0placed up to 20 feet away and transmitted\u00a0using telemetry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s similar to the way smartphones\u00a0can be charged wirelessly,\u201d Razavi said.<\/p>\n
The new pacemaker also offers a\u00a0different sort of shock to the heart.\u00a0When an ordinary cardiac defibrillator\u00a0detects an abnormal heart rhythm, it\u00a0shocks the heart in a painful way that\u00a0Razavi describes as being hit with a\u00a0two-by-four. The new technology \u00a0will stimulate the heart with a lower\u00a0voltage so the patient doesn\u2019t even\u00a0know it is happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hope is to replace actual\u00a0defibrillators, which can be a traumatic\u00a0experience for patients,\u201d Razavi said.\u00a0\u201cWe have the possibility of achieving\u00a0treatment of both the most common\u00a0and most lethal cardiac arrhythmias\u00a0with external powering, wireless pacing\u00a0and cardiac defibrillation that is not\u00a0only painless, but is actually imperceptible\u00a0to the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team successfully tested the device\u00a0in a pig, demonstrating that it could\u00a0tune the animal\u2019s heart rate from\u00a0100 to 172 beats per minute. Razavi\u00a0and Babakhani said they will continue\u00a0with animal studies this year.<\/p>\n
Babakhani, Razavi and other colleagues\u00a0introduced the device at the\u00a0Institute of Electrical and Electronics\u00a0Engineers International Microwave\u00a0Symposium in Honolulu in June 2017.<\/p>\n
They also authored a short paper\u00a0written by Babakhani and Yuxiang Sun,\u00a0M.D., Ph.D., of Rice; Brian Greet, M.D.,\u00a0David Burkland, M.D., and Razavi of\u00a0Baylor and THI; and Mathews John\u00a0of THI.<\/p>\n
The team is further developing\u00a0its technology in collaboration with\u00a0Behnaam Aazhang, Ph.D., the J.S.\u00a0Abercrombie Professor of Electrical\u00a0and Computer Engineering, and Joseph\u00a0Cavallaro, Ph.D., professor of computer\u00a0science and electrical and computer\u00a0engineering, both at Rice.<\/p>\n
The next step is to develop better\u00a0versions of the pacemaker. The team\u00a0hopes to use the device in patients\u00a0who recently had surgery or a heart\u00a0valve replacement.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients who have a defibrillator\u00a0may live longer, but not better, because\u00a0of the pain of the shocks they receive,\u201d\u00a0Razavi said. \u201cWith this new idea, they\u00a0are going to live longer and better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the future, abnormal heart rhythms\u00a0could be controlled by a tiny device\u00a0inserted directly into the heart, eliminating\u00a0the wires that are attached to\u00a0standard pacemakers and defibrillators. The device could also put an end to the\u00a0invasive surgery needed to implant a\u00a0traditional pacemaker or defibrillator. Aydin Babakhani, Ph.D., formerly of\u00a0Rice University and now associate professor\u00a0of electrical and computer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":11146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2418,2419,748],"yoast_head":"\n