Scientists said Wednesday they have developed the world’s tiniest pacemaker. It is a temporary heartbeat regulator smaller than a grain of rice. Doctors can inject it, and light controls it before it dissolves.
The wireless pacemaker is still years away from being tested in humans. Even so, experts hailed it as a “transformative breakthrough” that could spur advances in other areas of medicine.
Millions of people across the world have permanent pacemakers. These devices stimulate hearts with electrical pulses to ensure they beat normally.
The US-led team of researchers behind the new device wanted to help children with congenital heart defects. One percent of children are born with these defects and need a temporary pacemaker in the week after surgery. The pacemaker could also help adults restore a normal heartbeat as they recover from heart surgery.
Why Current Pacemakers Fall Short
Currently, temporary pacemakers require surgery to sew electrodes onto heart muscles. Wires connect them to a powered device on the patient’s chest. When patients no longer need the pacemaker, doctors or nurses pull out the wires. This can sometimes cause damage.
For example, Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, died from internal bleeding after doctors removed his temporary pacemaker in 2012.
The newly developed pacemaker, however, is wireless. At just one millimetre thick and 3.5 millimetres long, it can fit into the tip of a syringe. It has also been designed to dissolve into the body when no longer needed. As a result, patients avoid invasive surgery.
Significant leap forward
According to a study in the journal Nature, the pacemaker pairs with a soft patch worn on the patient’s chest. When the patch detects irregular heartbeats, it automatically flashes light. The light tells the pacemaker what heartbeat it should stimulate.
A galvanic cell powers the pacemaker. The cell uses the body’s fluids to convert chemical energy into electrical pulses that stimulate the heart.
So far, the pacemaker has worked effectively in tests on mice, rats, pigs, dogs, and human heart tissue in the lab, according to the study.
Senior study author John Rogers of Northwestern University in the United States told AFP he estimated doctors could test the pacemaker in humans in two to three years. His lab has launched a start-up to pursue this goal, he added. In the future, the underlying technology could also “create unique and powerful strategies to address societal challenges in human health,” Rogers said.
Bozhi Tian’s lab at the University of Chicago has also developed light-activated pacemakers, but he was not involved in the latest research. He called it a “significant leap forward.”
“This new pacemaker is a transformative breakthrough in medical technology,” he told AFP.
“It’s a paradigm shift in temporary pacing and bioelectronic medicine, opening up possibilities far beyond cardiology — including nerve regeneration, wound healing and integrated smart implants.”
Heart disease is the world’s leading cause of death, according to the World Health Organization.
