In Vivo Intravascular Pacing Using a Wireless Microscale Stimulator

Parinaz Abiri; Sandra Duarte-Vogel; Tzu-Chieh Chou; Arash Abiri; Varun Gudapati; Alireza Yousefi; Mehrdad Roustaei; Chih-Chiang Chang; Qingyu Cui; Jeffrey J Hsu; Malcolm Bersohn; Dejan Markovic; Jun Chen; Yu-Chong Tai; Tzung K Hsiai

doi:10.1007/s10439-021-02729-8

In Vivo Intravascular Pacing Using a Wireless Microscale Stimulator

Ann Biomed Eng. 2021 Sep;49(9):2094-2102. doi: 10.1007/s10439-021-02729-8. Epub 2021 Feb 3.

Authors

Parinaz Abiri^{1

2}, Sandra Duarte-Vogel³, Tzu-Chieh Chou⁴, Arash Abiri⁵, Varun Gudapati², Alireza Yousefi⁶, Mehrdad Roustaei¹, Chih-Chiang Chang¹, Qingyu Cui², Jeffrey J Hsu², Malcolm Bersohn², Dejan Markovic⁶, Jun Chen¹, Yu-Chong Tai⁴, Tzung K Hsiai^{7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
² Department of Cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
³ Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
⁴ Department of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
⁵ School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
⁶ Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
⁷ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. THsiai@mednet.ucla.edu.
⁸ Department of Cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. THsiai@mednet.ucla.edu.
⁹ Department of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA. THsiai@mednet.ucla.edu.

PMID: 33537925
DOI: 10.1007/s10439-021-02729-8

Abstract

Millions of patients worldwide are implanted with permanent pacemakers for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and conduction disorders. The increased use of these devices has established a growing clinical need to mitigate associated complications. Pacemaker leads, in particular, present the primary risks in most implants. While wireless power transfer holds great promise in eliminating implantable device leads, anatomical constraints limit efficient wireless transmission over the necessary operational range. We thereby developed a transmitter-centered control system for wireless power transfer with sufficient power for continuous cardiac pacing. Device safety was validated using a computational model of the system within an MRI-based anatomical model. The pacer was then fabricated to meet the acute constraints of the anterior cardiac vein (ACV) to enable intravascular deployment while maintaining power efficiency. Our computational model revealed the wireless system to operate at > 50 times below the tissue energy absorption safety criteria. We further demonstrated the capacity for ex vivo pacing of pig hearts at 60 beats per minute (BPM) and in vivo pacing at 120 BPM following pacer deployment in the ACV. This work thus established the capacity for wireless intravascular pacing with the potential to eliminate complications associated with current lead-based deep tissue implants.

Keywords: Cardiovascular devices; Implantable pacemaker; Leadless pacemaker; Wireless biomedical devices; Wireless pacemaker; Wireless power transfer.

MeSH terms

Animals
Cardiac Pacing, Artificial*
Electric Power Supplies
Humans
Male
Models, Anatomic
Pacemaker, Artificial*
Swine
Wireless Technology

Abstract

MeSH terms

Grants and funding