A new class of miniature pacemakers is being touted as one of the Top 10 medical inventions expected in 2015.
The tiny devices are being tested around the world and are expected to revolutionize the field of heart medicine. They'll range in scale from the size of a pen cap to the size of a Tic Tac, and doctors say they can be implanted in a patient without complicated surgery to put wires under the skin.
The Cleveland Clinic -- a leader in cardiology care -- recently placed the wireless mini-pacemaker at No. 7 on its list of the Top 10 medical innovations expected in 2015.
A traditional pacemaker is typically a little larger than a toonie and must be surgically implanted in a patient. It's often visible through the skin, and doctors need to attach its lead wires to the heart in order to make it work. The device sends a rhythmic charge through its wires to keep the heart beating at a steady pace, but those wires can crack and occasionally become sites for infection.
The mini-pacemaker is expected to change that. The little device is threaded through a blood vessel in the leg, up into the heart, and uses a wireless electrode to send out a pulse and keep the heart beating regularly.
"About every 20 years or so, we have a major advance like this in medicine," said San Diego-based electrophysiologist Dr. Steven Higgins.
Patient Bill Pike, 76, is among those testing the new mini-pacemaker.
"It just feels like it's beating. I can't tell anything," he said.
"I think he looks great," said Dr. Randy Jones, who helped give Pike the implant.
Jones says the device will help keep Pike's heart operating at a regular pace. "This watches for missing heartbeats and will give him a heartbeat in a moment," Jones said.
Doctors say the implantation process is quicker and the risk of infection is lower with the mini-pacemaker than with the standard model. Only about six per cent of patients have had complications with the mini-pacemaker so far.
The mini-pacemaker has a 10-year battery life and is expected to become a popular alternative to the larger pacemaker used in most patients today.
"We'll be using a fair number of these in the future because there's lots of patients who would prefer this type of pacemaker than a standard pacemaker," said Dr. Derek Exner, a cardiologist at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, at the University of Calgary.
Once doctors have fully studied and perfected the technology, they'll roll it out as an option for the millions of heart patients who need it.
And if the early returns are any indication, patients will snap it up in a heartbeat.
With files from CTV medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
