Posted on 07/06/2023 5:30:16 AM PDT by FarCenter
Nearly 700,000 people in the United States die from heart disease every year, and one-third of those deaths result from complications in the first weeks or months following a traumatic heart-related event.
To help prevent those deaths, researchers at Northwestern and George Washington (GW) universities have developed new device to monitor and treat heart disease and dysfunction in the days, weeks or months following such events. And, after the device is no longer needed, it harmlessly dissolves inside the body, bypassing the need for extraction.
About the size of a postage stamp, the soft, flexible device uses an array of sensors and actuators to perform more complicated investigations than traditional devices, such as pacemakers, can accomplish. Not only can it be placed on various sections of the heart, the device also continuously streams information to physicians, so they can remotely monitor a patient's heart in real time.
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"Several serious complications, including atrial fibrillation and heart block, can follow cardiac surgeries or catheter-based therapies," said Northwestern's Igor Efimov, an experimental cardiologist who co-led the study. "Current post-surgical monitoring and treatment of these complications require more sophisticated technology than currently available. We hope our new device can close this gap in technology. Our transient electronic device can map electrical activity from numerous locations on the atria and then deliver electrical stimuli from many locations to stop atrial fibrillation as soon as it starts."
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After a clinically relevant period, the device -- which is made of biocompatible materials approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- simply dissolves into benign products. Similar to absorbable stitches, the device degrades and then completely disappears through the body's natural biological processes. The device's bioresorbable nature could reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes by avoiding complications from surgical extraction and lowering infection risks.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Very interesting.
https://healthcenter.gwu.edu/immunizations
Check out that list.
Not trusting that lot to put out a decent cardiac device.
When I had my heart attack back in 2020 the Lifevest saved my life, when it fired twice during a torsad. The only problem was it was like wearing a bulletproof 24/7, so this would be much more convenient.
Nice!!!
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