Swiss engineers have invented a pacemaker based on an clockwork wristwatch which is powered by the motion of the heart.
More than 40,000 people a year are fitted with pacemakers in England.
The devices are used for patients with unusually fast, slow or irregular heart rhythms.
The new model, stitched directly on to the heart, is based on the concept of automatic clockwork developed by Swiss watchmakers in 1777 and generates electric al current using the movement of heart muscle.
Automatic watches work because they have a rotor, which pivots when the wearer's arm moves.
This rotation progressively winds a spring that then turns the watch mechanism. In the pacemaker, the mechanical spring unwinds to spin an electrical micro-generator.
Adrian Zurbuchen of the University of Bern's cardiovascular engineering group, told the conference: "Batteries are a limiting factor in today's medical implants.
Once they reach a critically low energy level, physicians see themselves forced to replace a correctly functioning medical device in a surgical intervention.
"This is an unpleasant scenario which increases costs and the risk of complications for patients."
Other research teams are investigating ways to get rid of batteries in pacemakers by transmitting power through the body from an external source - but the idea of using clockwork is novel.
Mr Zurbuchen said the Swiss researchers, led by a cardiologist and engineer, had turned to concepts which had been around for more than two centuries for inspiration.
The heart seems to be a very promising energy source because its contractions are repetitive and present for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he said.
“Furthermore the automatic clockwork, invented in the year 1777, has a good reputation as a reliable technology to scavenge energy from motion."
Researchers successfully tested the system in pigs, regulating their hearts to a steady 130 beats per minute.
"We have shown that it is possible to pace the heart using the power of its own motion,” he said.
Plans has yet to be drawn up to test in humans.
The prototype, which has been successfully tested in pigs, could mean
that patients no longer have to undergo repeat surgery when the
batteries in their device run out.
The invention, presented to the European Society of Cardiology Congress
in Barcelona, is based on the concept behind a self-winding wristwatch.
Currently pacemakers, which are used to help the heart beat more
regularly, need to be replaced on average every seven years, when
batteries failMore than 40,000 people a year are fitted with pacemakers in England.
The devices are used for patients with unusually fast, slow or irregular heart rhythms.
The new model, stitched directly on to the heart, is based on the concept of automatic clockwork developed by Swiss watchmakers in 1777 and generates electric al current using the movement of heart muscle.
Automatic watches work because they have a rotor, which pivots when the wearer's arm moves.
This rotation progressively winds a spring that then turns the watch mechanism. In the pacemaker, the mechanical spring unwinds to spin an electrical micro-generator.
Adrian Zurbuchen of the University of Bern's cardiovascular engineering group, told the conference: "Batteries are a limiting factor in today's medical implants.
Once they reach a critically low energy level, physicians see themselves forced to replace a correctly functioning medical device in a surgical intervention.
"This is an unpleasant scenario which increases costs and the risk of complications for patients."
Other research teams are investigating ways to get rid of batteries in pacemakers by transmitting power through the body from an external source - but the idea of using clockwork is novel.
Mr Zurbuchen said the Swiss researchers, led by a cardiologist and engineer, had turned to concepts which had been around for more than two centuries for inspiration.
The heart seems to be a very promising energy source because its contractions are repetitive and present for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he said.
“Furthermore the automatic clockwork, invented in the year 1777, has a good reputation as a reliable technology to scavenge energy from motion."
Researchers successfully tested the system in pigs, regulating their hearts to a steady 130 beats per minute.
"We have shown that it is possible to pace the heart using the power of its own motion,” he said.
Plans has yet to be drawn up to test in humans.
Comments
Post a Comment