For the small percent of babies born with a heart defect who need a pacemaker in the fragile days after surgery, the current solution involves wires, a device strapped to the outside of the chest, and a removal procedure risky enough that it has killed patients. A team of engineers and doctors at Northwestern University just changed that entire picture with a device so remarkably small it can fit inside the tip of a standard syringe. The world’s tiniest pacemaker, smaller than a single grain of rice, can now be injected directly into place, controlled wirelessly using gentle pulses of light, and then left to quietly dissolve into the body on its own once it is no longer needed. No additional surgery, no protruding wires, no risk of tearing heart tissue when the time comes to remove it.
The device works by pairing with a soft flexible patch worn on the patient’s chest that monitors the heartbeat continuously throughout the night and day. The moment it detects an irregular rhythm, it automatically sends pulses of near-infrared light that wirelessly instruct the tiny pacemaker to deliver precisely the right electrical signal to the heart muscle below. Powered entirely by the body’s own fluids, the device has already performed successfully in tests on mice, rats, pigs, dogs, and donated human heart tissue in a laboratory setting, delivering as much stimulation as a full-sized pacemaker despite its microscopic scale. Researchers estimate it could be ready for human trials within a few years, and the lead scientist says the same underlying technology could eventually extend far beyond heart medicine into nerve regeneration, wound healing, and next-generation smart implants. Independent researchers not involved in the study called it a transformative breakthrough and a genuine paradigm shift for the entire field of medical technology.
Source: https://happyeconews.com/thailand-celebrates-rare-species-rediscovery/
