Headline : Wireless, light-powered pacemaker shines bright in animal study

Read more from the original article on here at www.nibib.nih.gov.

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While pacemakers have been instrumental in treating many patients with heart rhythm disorders, their bulky design and dependence on wires can limit their usefulness and poses a risk of heart damage or infection. Researchers at the University of Chicago have cut the cords, shrunk the size, and expanded the capabilities of current designs.

Their new technology is a lightweight, flexible silicon membrane that conforms to the surface of the heart, delivering electrical current when and where beams of light strike the device. In a recent study in Nature, the authors used their strategy to regulate heart activity in a variety of live animals. The results suggest the system could someday provide a high degree of control over irregular heart activity while placing less risk and burden on patients than traditional pacemakers.

The heart’s rhythmic motions are the result of electrical signals spreading through the tissue, causing the different chambers of the heart to contract in a particular order. Cardiovascular diseases or acute events, such as heart attacks, that injure heart tissue can diminish or disrupt this life-sustaining rhythm.

Read more from the original article on here at www.nibib.nih.gov.

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