Health is Wealth | Unsplash by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography
Health is Wealth | Unsplash by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography
For the first time in Arizona, HonorHealth cardiac electrophysiologist Thomas Mattioni, MD, and a team of physicians at the HonorHealth Research Institute have implanted a device designed to painlessly reset the heart’s rhythm in cases of ventricular fibrillation — when the heart starts beating wildly out of control.
Patients experiencing ventricular fibrillation can suffer irreversible brain damage, or even death, if not treated within minutes using the aid of an electrical shock. However, these electrical shock devices, known as subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillators (S-ICD), sometimes deliver surprising and painful shocks to patients when activated by the onset of a ventricular arrhythmia.
Now, HonorHealth Research Institute doctors have implanted a second device into a patient's right ventricle, the chamber of the heart that pumps blood directly to the lungs. This modified pacemaker system (MPS) the size of a AAA battery painlessly delivers several low energy electrical pulses that stimulate the heart and returns the heartbeat to a stable rhythm.
This MPS pacemaker is a part of a clinical research study, and it works without the need for permanent wires through the vascular system and into the heart muscle. The implant communicates wirelessly with the S-ICD. And if the MPS fails to restart a proper heartbeat, the S-ICD is activated to deliver a full electrical shock.
For more than 20 years, the HonorHealth Research Institute's Cardiovascular Research Program has been an international leader in the treatment of cardiovascular conditions. Learn more at HonorHealth.com/research.
Read the full press release: https://bit.ly/3xwunV1
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up