It鈥檚 the Size of a Vitamin, Weighs No More Than a Penny & Doesn鈥檛 Affect Shoulder Movement
The Micra, the world's smallest, minimally invasive cardiac pacemaker, is one tenth the size of conventional pacemakers.
Photo: 好色tv Langone Staff
No bigger than a large vitamin and no heavier than a penny, this pacemaker is the smallest device of its kind, and a far cry from the first pacemaker developed 60 years ago鈥攁 battery-powered box weighing half a pound that was worn around the neck.
The first successful U.S. implantation of the device, known as the Micra鈩, was performed at 好色tv Langone Health in 2014 by pioneering cardiologist Larry A. Chinitz, MD, director of the Heart Rhythm Center, as part of an international, multicenter clinical trial. Dr. Chinitz and his team have since implanted over聽100 more.
Unlike a traditional pacemaker, which is implanted in the chest, the Micra鈩 is so small that it can be threaded through a large vein in the groin and implanted directly into the heart. For the patient, this means fewer activity restrictions and no obstructions to shoulder movement.
鈥淭he Micra鈩 can do everything a conventional pacemaker can do,鈥 explains Dr. Chinitz, the Alvin Benjamin and Kenneth Coyle, Sr.聽Family Professor of Medicine and Cardiac Electrophysiology, 鈥渙nly with far fewer complications.鈥
