In the United States, over one-third of deaths occur yearly due to complications after a traumatic cardiac-related event. Serious complications such as heart blockages and atrial fibrillation are common following cardiac surgeries.
In order to prevent these serious complications that can result from cardiac-related events, researcher Luyao Lu from George Washington and researcher Igor Efimov from Northwestern University created a wireless device to monitor heart disease and dysfunction, thus offering a new technological advancement in the cardiology specialty. Lu firmly believes that physicians need these devices and technologies to prevent the numerous deaths following heart attacks and procedures. Thus, implementing this device can help physicians have numerous successful surgical outcomes instead of tragic and unnecessary deaths.
Although this device is similar to a traditional pacemaker, it has the ability to perform a thorough investigation of the heart in real-time. Once this information is collected from the patient, it is streamed directly to their physician, allowing the heart to be continuously monitored. Additionally, this device can observe any heart region and aid in diagnosing and treating cardiac patients. A vital component of this device is that it dissolves inside the body when it is no longer needed. This feature eliminates the need for additional surgeries to extract the device.
In order to test its effectiveness, the transient electrical device has been tested in animal models thus far. Through these experiments, the device has been shown to restore a normal heart rhythm, detect which areas of the heart are functional and nonfunctional, and map out physical parameters. These features will help physicians better understand the heart’s function and diseases. Implementing this technology into the medical field offers a new method for patients and their physicians to monitor and improve their overall health.
Thank you for reading,
Ilana Saidov