Medical Design Briefs - September 2023 - 46

John A. Rogers introduced the first-ever
transient pacemaker, published in Nature
Biomedical Engineering. Then, earlier this
year, Efimov's team unveiled a graphene
tattoo for treating cardiac arrhythmia, published
in Advanced Materials.
" After heart surgeries, surgeons sometimes
insert temporary wires, which are
connected to external current generators,
to provide electrical stimulation
during temporary heart block caused by
the surgery, " Efimov says. " Recently, we
developed a bioresorbable pacemaker to
replace such a wire. Postoperative atrial
fibrillation requires a more complicated
approach based on a multi-electrode array
for sensing and stopping atrial fibrillation.
Now, we present a novel technology
to achieve this goal. "
Tested in small animal models, the
new device provides functions beyond
those of a traditional pacemaker. While a
pacemaker only can provide one overall
picture of the heart (whether or not the
heart is beating), the transient device
provides a more nuanced picture. Not
only can it restore normal heart rhythms,
About the size of a postage stamp, the soft, flexible device
uses an array of sensors and actuators to perform
more complicated investigations than traditional devices,
such as pacemakers, can accomplish. (Credit: Northwestern
University/George Washington University)
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it also can show which areas of the heart
are functioning well and which areas are
not. The device's transparent nature also
allows researchers to optically map many
important cardiac physical parameters
through the device to better study heart
function and heart disease mechanisms.
After a clinically relevant period, the device
- which is made of biocompatible
materials approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration - simply dissolves
into benign products. Similar to absorbable
stitches, the device degrades and then
completely disappears through the body's
natural biological processes. The device's
bioresorbable nature could reduce healthcare
costs and improve patient outcomes
by avoiding complications from surgical
extraction and lowering infection risks.
The study, " Soft, bioresorbable, transparent
microelectrode arrays for multimodal
spatiotemporal mapping and
modulation of cardiac physiology, " was
supported by the National
Science
Foundation and the National Institutes
of Health.
For more information, contact Igor
Efimov, co-corresponding author, professor
of biomedical engineering and
medicine at Northwestern University, at
igor.efimov@northwestern.edu or visit.
www.northwestern.edu.
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Medical Design Briefs - September 2023

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