Traditional pacemakers use wires to connect to their batteries just beneath their wearers’ skin, typically on their shoulders. While cordless versions are self-contained, battery included, within the right ventricles of their hearts. Wired battery pacemakers are more popular, because they help more heart conditions. Wireless ones have a narrower application, but they are simpler to install with fewer complications, according to Cleveland Clinic.
The Science Behind Extending Battery Pacemaker Life
“Mechanical and electrical energy are linked, and can be exchanged back and forth,” explains associate Prof Babak Nazer. He specializes in patients with heart rhythm disorders, and is lead author of a study at University of Washington, Seattle.
“Just like ultrasound converts electrical voltage into pressure or sound,” he continues. “We can engineer similar materials onto implantable battery pacemakers, to convert the heart’s natural oscillating pressures ‘backward’ into voltage to prolong battery life.”
Now this may sound like an improbable proposition, but the proof is definitely ‘in the pudding’ this time. That’s because Prof Babak Nazer and his team “harvested approximately 10% of the energy necessary to pace the next beat” in a simulated experiment reported by American Heart Association.
This Research Matters for Cordless Pacemaker Users
Cordless pacemakers without electric leads often offer an easier-going alternative for patients with slow heart rates. However, there’s a catch as there always is with portable electrical devices when their batteries need replacing. Almost invariably pacemaker batteries are lithium-iodide cells, with a typical lifespan of 7 to 8 years or longer.
Removing leadless battery pacemakers to access their aging batteries is a complex process. Surgeons often place new ones alongside old ones, so as not to interrupt support to the heart.
The research we referred to could extend the time before having to do the switch. Perhaps someday we shall see pacemaker technology that lasts the lifetime of a patient. Now that would really be something to celebrate!
More Information
Heartbeats Powering Pacemakers a Possibility
An Isolated Risk of Pacemaker Battery Failure
Preview Image: A Cordless Battery Pacemaker
