In 1958 the first pacemaker was placed in a human heart by the swedish medical scientist Rune Elmqvist. Now 56 years later, the U.S. company Medtronic has developed the worlds smallest pacemaker, Micra Transcatheter Pacing System, with the size 24 mm just 1/10 the size of a normal pacemaker. The advantageous size makes it possible to place it in a human heart without surgery.
Normally the procedure is performed by a doctor who cuts the skin and place the pacemaker in a pocket under the skin and attaches two electrodes in the heart. A routine procedure that takes less than an hour and is done with local anesthesia. Medtronics pacemaker is instead inserted through a catheter in the femoral vein. In addition no electrodes is needed, the pacemaker has two pins that transmits the electrical impulses directly to the heart.
The first successful implantation was recently done at Linz Medical Hospital in Austria. The video shows how easily the TPS is placed in a human heart through the femoral vein.
Image and video source: Medtronic
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