Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Northwestern University engineers have developed a pacemaker so tiny that it can fit inside the tip of a syringe — and be non-invasively injected into the body. Smaller than a single grain of rice, the pacemaker is paired with a small, soft, flexible, wireless, wearable device that mounts onto a patient’s chest to control pacing. When the wearable device detects an irregular heartbeat, it automatically shines a light pulse to activate the pacemaker. These short pulses— which penetrate through the patient’s skin, breastbone and muscles — control the pacing. Although it can work with hearts of all sizes, the pacemaker is particularly well-suited to the tiny, fragile hearts of newborn babies with congenital heart defects.
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Northwestern University engineers have developed a pacemaker so tiny that it can fit inside the tip of a syringe — and be non-invasively injected into the body. Smaller than a single grain of rice, the pacemaker is paired with a small, soft, flexible, wireless, wearable device that mounts onto a patient’s chest to control pacing. When the wearable device detects an irregular heartbeat, it automatically shines a light pulse to activate the pacemaker. These short pulses— which penetrate through the patient’s skin, breastbone and muscles — control the pacing. Although it can work with hearts of all sizes, the pacemaker is particularly well-suited to the tiny, fragile hearts of newborn babies with congenital heart defects.
____
▶️ Subscribe: bit.ly/NorthwesternUYTSubscribe
Follow Northwestern on social media:
-Instagram: instagram.com/northwesternu
-TikTok: tiktok.com/@northwestern.u
-Twitter/X: twitter.com/northwesternu
-LinkedIn: linkedin.com/school/northwestern-university
-Facebook: facebook.com/northwesternu
Northwestern on the Web:
-Northwestern Homepage: https://northwestern.edu
-Northwestern Now News: https://news.northwestern.edu
-Northwestern Magazine: https://magazine.northwestern.edu
