Engineers from Northwestern University revealed on April 2 what they call the “world’s smallest pacemaker” and the small device is smaller than a grain of rice.
The university says the pacemaker is so small that it can be mounted inside the tip of the syringe, can be inserted into the body and dissolved after no longer needed.
The pacemaker is paired with a small, flexible wireless device located in the patient’s chest to control the heartbeat.
If the device detects an irregular heartbeat, it will automatically illuminate the light pulses to activate the pacemaker. Short pulses pass through the patient’s skin, sternum and muscles, controlling the heartbeat. The light then flashes and turns off at a speed corresponding to the correct pacing.
The university says that although it can work with hearts of all sizes, pacemakers are particularly suitable for the tiny, fragile hearts of newborn babies with congenital heart defects.
The lens of John A Rogers of Northwestern University shows the size of the pacemaker on his finger, and the detector flickers onto the pulse of the pacemaker. The university has also released a graph detailing how pacemakers work.
Northwestern University also released images that would include the size of pacemakers with a quarter-sized image, a pencil tip and a needle. Credits: John Rogers/Northwestern University by Story
