Scientists have come up with a pacemaker that works with light instead of batteries and saves heart patients from the trouble of changing batteries. This new pacemaker, currently being tested in mice, also has a very different working principle. Scientists explained that this new rhythm adjuster targets the muscles that need to work, not the whole heart. But how does this battery-less pacemaker work?
How does a battery-free pacemaker work and what are the differences?
Will the problem of replacing pacemakers become a thing of the past with the new pacemaker technology developed at the University of Arizona? Again, these pacemakers have a much more useful structure than existing batteries. Pacemaker technology first appeared in 1958. Pacemakers, which have not changed much since then, have a structure that delivers small electric shocks to the entire heart when it detects an irregular rhythm.
The batteries of these rhythm regulators need to be changed every 5 to 7 years. This small device, which is lifesaving for some heart patients, can also be painful. The main reason for this pain is that even the slightest arrhythmia shocks the entire heart.
The new light-powered pacemaker technology has a network structure that surrounds the entire heart. In this sense, an optogenetic (a technology developed to influence and direct light-sensitive cells) network structure that affects light-sensitive cells surrounds the entire heart. The aim here is to control the cardiomyocyte cells (heart muscle cells) that provide heartbeat. Thus, the wireless and battery-free pacemaker has the ability to send shocks only to certain areas of the heart.
Important development in the Mamut project! Is Jurassic Park coming true?
A big step for the project to bring mammoths back to life. Will using stem cells for endangered animals lead to a Jurassic Park disaster?
This is important for heart patients in terms of reducing pain. In this way, pacemakers may also be a treatment method for more irregular heart rhythm disorders. This new pacemaker surrounds the heart from the outside, like flower petals, rather than from the inside. This new pacemaker has a flexible structure and thus adapts to the heart’s changing shape as it beats.
The pacemaker, which is battery-free and works with light, has a petal-shaped network structure and an electrode that can record. Scientists announced that this electrode has a structure that can be programmed. In other words, it will be possible to adjust which muscles the pacemaker will target according to the person and his disease.
In short, with battery-free pacemaker technology, more heart patients will benefit from pacemaker treatment. Also, the hassle of changing batteries will come to an end. It is unclear when the less painful technology will begin to be tested in humans.