St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, a Trinity Health – New England provider, announced Monday that it has implanted a new type of heart device that provides patients with bradycardia, a condition characterized by a slow heart rate, with the latest pacing technology 1/10th the size of a traditional pacemaker.
Doctors implanted three of the Micra Transcatheter Pacing Systems (TPS), in August. Each is about an inch long.
Recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the TPS is the only leadless pacemaker approved for use in the U.S., St. Francis said in a news release.
Drs. Neal Lippman and Aneesh Tolat, cardiac electrophysiologists with Arrhythmia Consultants of Connecticut, performed the procedures.
Unlike traditional pacemakers, the device does not require cardiac wires (leads) or a surgical “pocket” under the skin to deliver pacing therapy. Instead, the device is small enough to be delivered through a catheter and implanted directly into the heart, providing an alternative to conventional pacemakers without the complications associated with leads, St. Francis said. The Micra TPS also is designed to automatically adjust pacing therapy based on a patient’s activity levels.
