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posted by Fnord666 on Monday November 25 2019, @12:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-a-security-issue-for-once dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

ETH scientists have developed a special protective membrane made of cellulose that significantly reduces the build-up of fibrotic tissue around cardiac pacemaker implants, as reported in the current issue of the journal Biomaterials. Their development could greatly simplify surgical procedures for patients with cardiac pacemakers.

"Every pacemaker has to be replaced at some point. When this time comes, typically after about five years when the device's battery expires, the patient has to undergo surgery," explains Aldo Ferrari, Senior Scientist in ETH Professor Dimos Poulikakos's group and at Empa. "If too much fibrotic tissue has formed around the pacemaker, it complicates the procedure," he explains. In such cases, the surgeon has to cut into and remove this excess tissue. Not only does that prolong the operation, it also increases the risk of complications such as infection.

To overcome this issue, Ferrari and his colleagues at ETH Zurich spent the last few years developing a membrane with a special surface structure that is less conducive to the growth of fibrotic tissue than the smooth metal surface of pacemakers. This membrane has now been patented and Ferrari is working with fellow researchers at the Wyss Zurich research center, the University of Zurich and the German Center of Cardiovascular Research in Berlin to make it market-ready for use in patients.

Journal Reference:

Francesco Robotti, Ita Sterner, Simone Bottan, Josep M. Monné Rodríguez, Giovanni Pellegrini, Tanja Schmidt, Volkmar Falk, Dimos Poulikakos, Aldo Ferrari, Christoph Starck. Microengineered biosynthesized cellulose as anti-fibrotic in vivo protection for cardiac implantable electronic devices. Biomaterials, 2020; 229: 119583 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119583


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 25 2019, @12:47AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 25 2019, @12:47AM (#924345)

    Crank up the microwave.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 25 2019, @03:23AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 25 2019, @03:23AM (#924379)

    I wonder if rechargeable batteries have gotten good enough to be considered for pacemakers? Generally primary cells (non-rechargeable) have more energy, but maybe some type is good enough now that inductive charging through the skin would be an option? If I had a pacemaker, I think it would be preferable to wear a charging loop once a month (for a day or so?--very slow charge), instead of surgery every 5 years.

    • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday November 25 2019, @10:17PM

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday November 25 2019, @10:17PM (#924668) Journal

      An interesting part of the situation is also how little power is required to deliver the charge - it isn't the cross-body 200-300 Joules required for full on defibrillation (which is attempting electrical stimulation of every cell along the conductive pathway). All it does is touch a small discharge to the needed location(s) to trigger the body's discharge process. From this link [springer.com] from a 1992 book, "In general, a stimulus pulse of 5–19 mA is delivered at 1–10 V for 0.25–1.0 ms with a rate from 30–150 bpm. For a typical application, a stimulus pulse of 10mA is delivered at 5 V for 0.5 msec at 70 bpm. Assuming a pacing rate of 70 pulses per minute, the average continuous energy drain is 30 µW." You could get a week or two easily, anyway.

      Even wilder: Thinking of using either body thermal or piezoelectric properties [nih.gov] to charge the battery.

      But the challenge is making sure whatever is used is nominally safe. It wouldn't do to create a tension pneumothorax from hydrogen gas dispersion, or have the person flare up like a cheap knockoff hoverboard.

      --
      This sig for rent.