It is easy to forget the steady beat of a heartbeat in our everyday lives.
For those who are able to develop an arrhythmia, the situation is much more fraught – their heartbeat is monitored and controlled by life-saving devices called PacemakersThe heart is given controlled shocks that stop its quivering, giving it the chance to find its rhythm.
Studies of the variety of ways a heart might stumble or stutter its path to a quivering mess often make use of small animals for models. Despite their convenience and ethical advantages, small animals can be difficult to monitor and react to tiny changes in their hearts.
A team of scientists led now by Philipp Gutruf, a biomedical engineer at the University of Arizona, has created an implantable device that makes it easier to study the heart disease of small animals. It could also be used to treat heart disease in humans.
This device is flexible enough to allow for smaller subjects and provides better resolution for electrophysiology monitoring. The device uses light instead of electricity to deliver gentler jolts to detect abnormal rhythms.
Unlike the electrical signals of current pacemakers, which can interfere with recording capabilities and leave physicians with a patchy picture of cardiac episodes, using light to stimulate the heart means the system can provide continuous recordings of heartbeat patterns – even when it needs to defibrillate.
“Current pacemakers simply record a threshold, and they’ll tell you, This is going to arrhythmia. Now shock! This explains Gutruf.
“But this device also has a computer that allows you to input different algorithms, which will allow you pace in a more complex way. It is designed for research.”
The device has so far only been tested in mice, but researchers designed it to deliver more precise – and possibly less painful – stimulation of the heart.
Optogenetics is a method that activates excitable cells such as the brain and heart using light. The blue-sensitive protein was expressed in mouse cardiomyocytes, which are heart muscle cells. Turn on the light and the cells will respond.
The device’s soft thin-film arrays are what make it so beautiful. They spread out like flowers and surround the heart. This tight fit is quite different from how pacemakers connect with the heart via one or two leads embedded into the organ.
Pacemakers can cause discomfort and cramping around the implant site. Some people may experience discomfort and cramping around the implantation site. rare casesThey may also develop complex regional pain syndromes in their chest.
The defibrillation process of the heart can be made less precise by stimulating it through just one or two contact points.
“All the cells in the heart are hit simultaneously, even the pain receptors. That’s why pacing and defibrillation can be so painful.” This explains Gutruf. It can affect the entire heart muscle.
The researchers believe this device will allow irregular heartbeats to be synchronized more comfortably and precisely by activating only those heart muscle cells which trigger contraction.
“Rather than having to shock the entire body right now, these new devices can target much more precisely, making defibrillation easier and more effective.” “Igor Efimov is a Northwestern University biomedical engineer.
According to the paper by the team, the prototype device, which was attached just outside of the mouse’s ribcage, was used a custom-made application and one suture. The heart rate data were shared via an infrared link.
The first step was to analyze the geometry and mechanics in a heartbeat. From there, the researchers designed and laser-fabricated the four-pronged mesh, which could move with the heart while it beats.
Testing the wireless device in freely moving mice, the researchers showed the device could detect abnormal rhythms and stimulate or ‘pace’ the heart with millisecond precision – and without the heat from the light pulses damaging cardiac tissue.
Researchers reported that the accuracy of the device to detect abnormal heartbeats was comparable to existing wireless heart rate monitors.
Although animal studies such as this one have shown promising results, they are still not conclusive. Very early daysOptogenetics can be used in humans. This technique involves gene therapy to make cells light-sensitive and an implantable electronic device that stimulates them in controlled ways.
Optogenetics has been used in Clinical trialsTo Rare inherited eye diseases can be treatedAlthough the use of this technique to monitor and treat heart irregularities is an emerging concept, more research needs to be done in animals.
There are many options. Many challenges to overcomeIncluding the safe and effective delivery to heart cells of genetic instructions encoding light sensitive proteins.
Gutruf and his colleagues need to continue to improve the model of heart rhythm disorders as well as refine the device’s capabilities for correcting arrhythmias. Notification.
For the moment, however, the flower-like device will remain in place One of manyIt is a powerful research tool that allows you to study arrhythmias as well as other heart conditions in real time, at least in animals models.
The study was published by Science Advances.
