Smart Pacemaker Harmlessly Dissolves in the Body After It’s No Longer Needed

The transient pacemaker is shown before dissolving. The device is flexible, stretchy, and wireless. Credit: Northwestern University

Last summer, introduced the first-ever transient pacemaker — a fully implantable, wireless device that harmlessly dissolves in the body after it’s no longer needed. Now, they unveil a new, smart version that is integrated into a coordinated network of wireless, soft, flexible, wearable sensors and control units placed around the upper body.

The study was published on May 27, 2022, in the journal Science. The work was led by John A. Rogers, Igor R. Efimov, and Rishi Arora from Northwestern University.

Watch the pacemaker harmlessly degrade over time. Credit: Northwestern University

The sensors communicate with each other to continuously monitor the body’s various physiological functions, including body temperature, oxygen levels, respiration, physical activity, muscle tone, and the heart’s electrical activity.

The system then automatically analyzes this combined activity using algorithms in order to autonomously detect abnormal cardiac rhythms and decide when to pace the heart and at what rate. All this information is streamed to a smartphone or tablet, so physicians can remotely monitor their patients.

“This approach could change the way patients receive care providing multimodal, closed-loop control over essential physiological processes — through a wireless network of sensors and stimulators that operates in a manner inspired by the complex, biological feedback loops that control behaviors in living organisms.”

— John A. Rogers, Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery

The new transient pacemaker and sensor/control network can be used in patients who required temporary pacing after cardiac surgery or are waiting for a permanent pacemaker. The pacemaker wirelessly harvests energy from a node within the network — a small wireless device that softly adheres to the patient’s chest. This technology eliminates the need for external hardware, including wires (or leads).

To enable the system to communicate with the patient, the researchers incorporated a small, wearable haptic-feedback device that can be worn anywhere on the body. When the sensors detect an issue (such as low battery power, incorrect device placement or pacemaker malfunction), the haptic device vibrates in specific patterns that alert wearers and inform them of the problem.