Pacemaker News and Research

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World’s smallest pacemaker for cardiology patients now offered at Medical City Dallas

Medical City Dallas is now offering the world’s smallest pacemaker for cardiology patients. The Micra pacemaker is a new type of heart device that provides patients with the most advanced pacing technology at one-tenth the size of a traditional pacemaker.

6 Oct 2017

UCI-led consortium receives $8 million from NSF to develop brain-computer interface

The National Science Foundation has awarded $8 million to a consortium led by the University of California, Irvine to develop a brain-computer interface that can restore walking ability and sensation in individuals with spinal cord injury.

13 Sep 2017

New 3D visualization of cardiac conduction system could better inform future heart surgeries

Future heart surgeries will be better informed, as cardiologists will have access to detailed information regarding the 3D disposition of the human conduction system, which is responsible for generating the heartbeat.

11 Sep 2017

USF surgeons use new procedure to vacuum out infected pacemaker wires

Pacemakers help people live longer, active lives. They're also often worn for decades at a time. But a pacemaker's wiring could get infected, and the signs are too similar to typical ailments.

6 Sep 2017

Study reveals benefits of defibrillators in heart disease patients treated with CRT

Some heart disease patients who are treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) would live longer and have fewer hospital admissions if they also received a defibrillator, concludes a team of researchers led by Aston Medical School at Aston University.

5 Sep 2017

CSUDH professor seeks novel lead compound to develop new drug for treating cancer

Does anyone have a cardiac pacemaker or medical device implants? How about keys, a mobile phone, or even a wallet? We wouldn't want anything to get damaged or erased."

26 Aug 2017

Scientists show that human heart's sinoatrial node is hardwired with backup system

There's good news when it comes to our heart's sinoatrial node (SAN), the body's natural pacemaker. Scientists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have shown the human SAN is hardwired with a backup system -- three diverse regions of pacemakers acting as batteries and up to five conduction pathways that act as wires to connect the signal to the atria.

27 Jul 2017

Depression among heart attack survivors can be deadly, yet is often ignored

Clyde Boyce has been hospitalized 14 times in the past four years. Boyce, 61, survived two strokes and five operations to unblock arteries around his heart, including three procedures in which doctors propped open his blood vessels with stents. He takes 18 pills a day and gets injections every two weeks with a powerful drug to lower cholesterol.

20 Jul 2017

Pacemakers and other cardiac devices reveal time, cause of death in some forensic cases

Pacemakers and other cardiac devices can help solve forensic cases, according to a study presented today at EHRA EUROPACE - CARDIOSTIM 2017. Devices revealed the time and cause of death in some cases where autopsy failed to do so.

20 Jun 2017

Rice and THI researchers introduce wireless, battery-less pacemaker

A wireless, battery-less pacemaker that can be implanted directly into a patient's heart is being introduced by researchers from Rice University and their colleagues at the Texas Heart Institute at the IEEE's International Microwave Symposium in Honolulu June 4-9.

6 Jun 2017

EHRA EUROPACE - CARDIOSTIM 2017 to showcase holographic cardiac imaging and other innovations

Holographic cardiac imaging and other innovations will be showcased at the EHRA EUROPACE - CARDIOSTIM 2017 in Vienna, Austria.

18 May 2017

History of sleep: what was normal?

We used to sleep in two phases, with a first sleep and then a second sleep. Arguably from time immemorial to the nineteenth century, the dominant pattern of sleep in Western societies was biphasic, whereby most preindustrial households retired between 9 and 10pm, slept for 3 to 3 ½ hours during their “first sleep,”

17 May 2017

Assuring Medical Equipment Reliability; The Role of Medical Connectors

Our medical connectors are used on a variety of medical devices. Here in the U.S. medical devices are approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and classified into three risk categories, classes I, II and III.

From Stäubli Electrical Connectors 21 Apr 2017

Study finds thalamic DBS to be safe, effective treatment for young adults with Tourette syndrome

A surgical technique that sends electrical impulses to a specific area of the brain reduces the "tics," or involuntary movements and vocal outbursts, experienced by young adults with severe cases of Tourette syndrome, according to a new study led by investigators from NYU Langone Medical Center.

7 Apr 2017

New therapy proves effective in reducing symptoms of treatment-resistant depression

In the largest study ever conducted with patients experiencing chronic and severe depression, researchers led by Dr. Scott Aaronson, Director of Clinical Research at Sheppard Pratt Health System have found that an implantable vagus nerve stimulation device paired with antidepressant treatment (which could include medications, psychotherapy, or electroconvulsive therapy proves effective in reducing symptoms among patients with treatment-resistant depression.

31 Mar 2017

Pacing program can lead to seven-fold reduction in fainting episodes

Patients with recurrent fainting episodes (syncope) who received a pacemaker delivering a pacing program designed to detect and stop the abnormal heart rhythms that precede syncope had a seven-fold reduction in fainting compared with patients in a placebo pacing group, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.

20 Mar 2017

Study reveals link between endovascular procedures and microbleeding in the brain

Small leakages from blood vessels in the brain, known as microbleeds, increase with age and are associated with cognitive decline. Of 84 older patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), nearly a quarter developed new microbleeds after their procedure, according to results of a single-center study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.

20 Mar 2017

UA researcher developing new technology to detect malware in implantable medical devices

Nearly a million new forms of malware are unleashed on the world every day. Manufacturers of software for smartphones, laptops and security cameras, as well as banks, retailers and government agencies, release upgrades frequently to try to protect customers and assets.

10 Mar 2017

Implantable cardiac monitors reveal abnormalities in healthy mountaineers at high altitudes

Climbing above 4,000m can provoke abnormal heart rhythms in otherwise healthy mountaineers, with the abnormalities increasing with altitude, new research has shown.

9 Mar 2017

TSRI study defines new protocol for MRI scanning in patients with implanted cardiac devices

The MagnaSafe Registry, a new multicenter study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has demonstrated that appropriately screened and monitored patients with standard or non-MRI-conditional pacemakers and defibrillators can undergo MRI at a field strength of 1.5 tesla without harm.

24 Feb 2017