New Pacemaker Responds to Direct Signals from Heart

A new type of pacemaker utilizes closed-loop simulation (CLS) technology for rate-adaptive pacing, which translates cardiac signals sent directly from the heart to determine appropriate heart rate.

Older pacemakers respond only when patients are in motion or when their breathing rate changes. The new pacemaker responds quickly not only to demands caused by physical exertion but also to those triggered by mental demands and emotional stress. Called Protos, the pacemaker also offers flexible programming and arrhythmia detection. Because the pacemaker does not require special leads, most existing pacemaker patients are candidates for Protos whenever replacement of current devices becomes necessary. Protos was developed by Biotronik (Berlin, Germany; www.biotronik.com) and has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Protos is the only pacemaker currently available that is capable of interpreting what the autonomic nervous system is really demanding from the heart, and responding in a manner that mimics the natural rhythm changes of a healthy heart,” said William Bailey, M.D., a cardiac electrophysiologist at the Heart & Vascular Center in Lake Charles, LA (USA) who served as the principal investigator in the FDA trials. Protos also adjusts automatically to changes in a patient's heart condition or medications.




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