Wireless Pacemaker Can Notify Physician

Pacemakers are a fairly common medical device. Companies such as St. Jude and Medtronic are continuing to miniaturize the pacemaker and extend its life between replacements.

A woman in New York recently had the world's first wireless pacemaker installed. This pacemaker sends a report to a monitoring service once a day for a physician to access.

Says Dr. Steven Greenberg from St. Francis' Arrhythmia and Pacemaker Center, "If there is anything abnormal, and we have a very intricate system set up, it will literally call the physician responsible at two in the morning if need be."

Monitoring systems and pacemakers are two essential devices for maintaining cardiac health in patients with arrhythmia, however, incorporating wireless technology into the pacemaker itself is a first. Not only can monitoring systems check the vitals of the patient, but can monitor the status of the device itself, whose proper functioning is also extremely important to the life of the patient.

Learn More: New York Woman Gets World's First Wireless Pacemaker [via DailyTech.com]