With the development of first implantable Micropacemaker even the heart blocks in Foetus can also be treated. A team of researchers from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and the University of Southern California (USC) have designed this micropacemaker. The study was published online on March 14 in the journal Heart Rhythm.

The congenital heart block is usually due to the defect of heart’s electric system which results in slowing down the rate of heart and impacting its ability to pump blood. It is estimated that it occurs in 1 in 10, 000 fetuses. Although this condition has been identified in early stages, this cannot be treated with lack of modern devices. But now the implantable micropacemaker has been identified by the researchers which help in preventing miscarriages and premature births of babies with congenital complete heart block.

Gerald Loeb, professor at the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC, said: “Building on our experience of using microfabrication techniques to create biomedical devices, we have developed a micropacemaker small enough to reside entirely within the foetus.”

Study lead author Yaniv Bar-Cohen, pediatric cardiologist at the CHLA added, “We now have a pacemaker that can be implanted in utero, potentially without harm to the foetus or the mom,’ says Ramen Chmait, the director of the CHLA-USC Institute for Maternal-Fetal Health noted.

AW: Lizitha