Eight heart patients in Calgary are now wearing an experimental pacemaker that's so small, it's about the size of a pen cap.
The patients are testing the devices as part of a global study to evaluate how well the devices work in the real world.
Pacemakers are needed by patients who have heart rhythm disorders. The devices deliver low-energy electrical pulses to their hearts to regulate the heartbeats. But the devices can be cumbersome, as they have to be implanted under the skin in the shoulder area of the chest, before wires are threaded through the main veins leading into the heart.
The new device, by contrast, is placed directly into the heart, and there's no need for wires or hardware in the chest.
Dr. Derek Exner, the cardiologist at Calgary's Foothills Medical Centre who implanted the devices in the eight patients taking part in the study, says the smaller unit can be implanted quickly and easily, leading to reduced surgery recovery time.
He says the new device should also be easier to maintain.
"With anything that's got multiple pieces, a piece can break down. So instead of having a bunch of different pieces that are connected together, it's all in a single unit. That gives the advantage of both battery longevity as well as reliability," Exner told CTV Calgary.
"The other advantage is that it eliminates the need to restrict the motion of the shoulder, which we typically do after surgery, and reduces the risk of infection."
But he points out that the new devices are also significantly more expensive than traditional pacemakers.
Vic Bohonos, 87, is one of the patients with the implant. He has an arrhythmia problem that resulted from a cardiac incident and was told he would need a traditional pacemaker.
"The day before I was supposed to go in for that pacemaker, I received a phone call, asking if I wanted to part of this trial, worldwide trial, on this new pacemaker," said Bohonos. "Well, I jumped at the opportunity. So I ended up with the first one in Calgary."
Bohonos says, so far, he likes the new device.
"I have no reaction from it at all. Everything is just as normal as if I didn't have a pacemaker," said Bohonos. "I'm feeling great. I really am."
The devices are expected to last 10 years, although this trial is testing whether that holds true. If the batteries wear out, a second device can be placed in the heart next to the other one.
Bohonos says he's not sure that 10 years will be long enough for him.
"I said, 'What's the length of the battery?' It's probably about 10 years long. I said, 'That's not good enough. I want a 15-year battery because I plan to live until I'm 100."
With a report from CTV Calgary's Karen Owen
