The average pacemaker is about the size of a walnut. But one created specifically for babies, announced by Northwestern University scientists, is far smaller—smaller, even, than a grain of rice, CBS News reports. Described as "the world's smallest pacemaker," the revolutionary device works in conjunction with a wearable chest piece that uses a light pulse to activate the pacemaker when it detects an irregular heartbeat. Scientists say the injectable and dissolvable pacemaker is designed for newborn babies with congenital heart defects but could also help adults, offering a safer alternative to a typical pacemaker.
"In terms of the device load on the body—the smaller, the better," developer and bioelectronics pioneer John A. Rogers says in a release. That's especially true for infants, whose hearts are about the size of a typical pacemaker, Discover reports. About 1% of children are born with congenital heart defects and only need temporary pacing for about a week after a surgery, explains cardiologist Igor Efimov, co-author of a study on the pacemaker's efficacy published Wednesday in Nature. "In about seven days or so, most patients' hearts will self-repair. But those seven days are absolutely critical," he says in the release.
With the new device, found to be effective with various sizes of animal and human hearts, tiny pieces of two different metals serve as electrodes, which form a simple battery when in contact with the body's fluids and send electrical pulses to the heart when activated by light pulses that penetrate the patient's skin, breastbone, and muscles. You don't need surgery to have it implanted as it's small enough to be injected into the heart with a tiny syringe. And there's no risk of complications with removal because when this pacemaker is no longer needed, it simply dissolves, per CBS. It "could save countless lives in the future," Discover reports. (More pacemakers stories.)
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