TORONTO -- Researchers at Northwestern and George Washington University in the U.S. have developed a medical first – a temporary pacemaker that is wireless, battery-free, fully implantable and dissolves after it is no longer needed.
“Hardware placed in or near the heart creates risks for infection and other complications,” said Northwestern’s John Rogers, who led the device’s development, in the release. “Our wireless, transient pacemakers overcome key disadvantages of traditional temporary devices by eliminating the need for percutaneous leads for surgical extraction procedures — thereby offering the potential for reduced costs and improved outcomes in patient care.
If a patient needs temporary pacing after open heart surgery, the current standard is for surgeons to sew on a pacemaker’s electrodes onto the heart’s muscle during the operation. The device has leads or wires that exit from the front of a patient’s chest that connect to an external box that delivers a standardized current to regulate the heart’s rhythm. When the pacemaker is no longer needed, it must be surgically removed.