Sonali Deshpande
May 18, 2014
Author: Delthia Ricks
Published May 4, 2014
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/nano-pacemaker-implanted-in-long-island-patient-s-heart-1.7917824
Summary:
Doctors at St. Jude Medical have created a "nano" pacemaker, a small self-contained device without wires, which was inserted into the heart of 50-year-old Robert Johnson without surgery. Johnson was home within 24 hours of the procedure, which in itself lasted only 20 minutes. The device, which is still being tested for safety and efficacy, is much less bulky than a standard pacemaker, and lacks a lead wire. The device is routed into the heart's right ventricle through a tube known as a catheter, after being inserted into the femoral vein in one's leg. The device has a battery that lasts to 10 years, and another can be added when the old one dies, without removing the old one. The device works by monitoring electrical rhythms in the heart and sending an electrical simulation when the beat is too slow. This nano pacemaker, however, is only targeted towards people who only need a pacemaker in one chamber of the heart, and people whose heartbeat is too slow.
Connection:
This relates to our study of the circulatory system. The heart must contract regularly in order pump blood to the lungs and arteries, and thus, transport nutrients, gases, and hormones through our body. The regulation of these contractions is done by a pacemaker, a specific region of heart muscle located in the right atrium. The pacemaker generates electrical impulses that spread over the walls of both atria and cause them to contract. The impulses then spread to the AV nodes, causing the ventricles to the contract. These contractions happen in a rhythmic cycle. The pacemaker is controlled by two opposing nerves which either speed it up or slow it down. It can also be controlled by hormones. Some diseases can disrupt the function of the pacemaker, causing arrhythmia: an irregular heartbeat. In these cases, doctors can insert a pacemaker in a patient, controlling their heartbeat.
Is there any evidence of scientists doing further research to try to figure out a way to utilize this nano pacemaker in people who need a pacemaker in more than one chamber of the heart?
ReplyDeleteWhat was the purpose of inserting it into a vein in the person's leg? Does that connect to how it reached the right ventricle?
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DeleteThis device can either be inserted through a vein in the groin or through the femoral vein in the leg. When blood is in a vein, it flows to the right atrium through the vena cava. When the nano pacemaker reaches the right atrium, they simply thread it further so that it passes the tricuspid valve, into the right ventricle(This pacemaker is small enough). I think in this case, they picked the femoral vein because it has a low morbidity rate, so it wouldn't be too dangerous to puncture it.
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