MICRA leadless PM

Anyone interested in the new Medtronic MICRA leadless PM can find a discussion of one member's experience in their study.

Runningmama wrote it buried in a thread about 5 down from here entitled "Electrical Impedance."

She & at least one other member are involved in the Medtronic study. So far there are fewer than 100 enrolled in the US (As of February 2015.) There is at least one other PM producer who is in the study stage for marketing a leadless PM.

If there are any others, please raise your virtual right hand & identify yourselves so that the rest of us can greet medical pioneers.

I believe that what they have joined is the pioneering efforts bearing fruit in what is the first major quantum leap in PM technology. All the advances previously (since the intro of high level integrated circuits) have been evolutionary. This one is revolutionary.

I did some Googling tonight & discovered that Medtronic has a bucketload of patents for using a relatively new semiconductor material called Gallium Arsenide (Abbreviated GaAs). I met a researcher in Vienna at a technical conference in 1980 who predicted this would come to pass after they solved some very thorny technical problems. Two devices in particular he predicted would flow from this material - Cardiac ICD's & Cochlear implants to restore hearing for a certain class of people w/ severely damaged cochlea.

The cochlear implant has become a commonly used implant in 2015. I have a friend who sports two of them & went from being legally deaf to hearing & understanding speech quite well. I am guessing that his other prediction is now coming to fruition.

Donr

4 Comments

3 of us

by tammyjk1021 - 2015-02-08 01:02:06

From what Mama has told me there is one other person besides the two of us who has the Micra. I have to say it was nice finding even one person. I was feeling pretty anxious about the whole thing. But so far so good.

Good to know you, How about....

by donr - 2015-02-08 10:02:00

....joining Mama & others in writing up your experiences? Like I said - you are the pioneers in a new technology thrust. The two PM's are not exactly the same, but have many similarities.

If you put your experiences in the same thread as Mama, they would at least all be in the same place.

I will then prepare a capstone post w/ the appropriate title so it is easy to find that directs the curious to where you all have written.

Donr

Lead less

by MaryJaneSparks - 2015-02-08 10:02:39

I received St Jude Medical leadless last July, about 350 of us Nationwide.

3 MONTH CHECK UP WENT WELL

by Runningmama - 2015-02-10 08:02:11

Hi Guys!!

Had my 3 month check up today, all went well. The little gadget is still where El Chami put it, all doing its pacemaking thing PERFECTLY, pacing, transmitting, adjusting, etc...it's like the little nanobot that could...so glad I was offered the opportunity to be part of the study. I have had no episodes, since it was put in (I did create my own anxiety for a while) and feel great, all the heart block stuff is gone ! And considering I have been lifting my weights, doing my pilates, and my runs since about 6 weeks, if it ain't moved yet it ain't moving! Hopefully this pacemaker will get the FDA stamp of approval and a Dual chamber model can be developed. I feel like it gives us complete freedom without worries that leads will come out, infection, etc. And don't forget, out of sight, out of mind-no discomfort, etc.

DonR, I asked today about how many patients Emory has. So far to date, Midtown has 20 and the Emory network has 28. AND, guess which Dr has done the most implants in the country, most likely the world? Yep, our guy.We are in good hands.

I did ask today about optomaps, etc scans that the optometrist uses. From what I was told, anything magnetic is out. NO MRIs which makes it more like a normal pacer correct? Which I am glad about, I hate the things LOL.

Tammy, hope you get some good out of my post and please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you out! You should be coming up on a 1 month check up shouldn't you?

You know you're wired when...

Lifetime warranty no longer gives peace of mind.

Member Quotes

In fact after the final "tweaks" of my pacemaker programming at the one year check up it is working so well that I forget I have it.