IJN testing new pacemaker

The Star

Published: Friday March 21, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Friday March 21, 2014 MYT 10:20:31 AM

BY LOH FOON FONG

New technology: Dr Razali showing the smallest pacemaker in the world at IJN.

   

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KUALA LUMPUR: The world’s smallest pacemaker that looks like a small battery, the diameter of a 50 sen coin, is now being tested at the National Heart Institute (IJN).

IJN consultant cardiologist and electro physiologist Datuk Dr Razali Omar said the device called Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) would not require the use of wires, known as “leads”, to connect it to the heart.

“It is less invasive than the current pacemaker as it does not require a surgical incision in the chest and the creation of a ‘pocket’ under the skin,” he told a press conference yesterday to announce the clinical trial that IJN was participating in.

A pacemaker is a small device placed in the chest or abdomen to help control abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) by sending electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate.

Dr Razali said the TPS, one-tenth the current pacemaker’s size, is placed in the right ventricle of the heart through a catheter inserted in the femoral vein. Attached to the heart via small tines, it delivers electrical impulses that pace the heart through an electrode at the end of the device, he said.

The TPS was implanted on four patients yesterday and the IJN would carry out a total of six to seven implants as part of a global clinical trial conducted by a medical device company based in the United States, he said adding that IJN carried out 500 implants a year using the current pacemakers.

While the current pacemaker could be seen bulging from the skin and easily damaged if one falls on it, the TPS was less likely to be damaged, he said.

Dr Razali said the use of the device could showcase Malaysia’s expertise level and ensure that Malaysians need not go overseas for their treatment while promoting Malaysia as a destination for medical tourism.