MIT Engineers Develop Noninvasive Ultrasound Pacemaker for Cardiac Patients
MIT engineers have created a noninvasive pacemaker that uses ultrasound to stimulate the heart, potentially offering a surgery-free alternative to traditional cardiac implants. The device, designed as a small sticker worn on the chest, uses tiny transducers to send ultrasound pulses that open ion channels in heart cells, allowing calcium to enter and trigger heartbeats. This innovation was tested on engineered human cardiac cells and rats, showing effective maintenance of healthy heart contractions and correction of arrhythmias. The team, led by Professor Xuanhe Zhao, plans to integrate this technology with imaging capabilities for comprehensive heart monitoring and regulation. The research, involving collaborators from the University of Southern California and other institutions, was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. 
