Itās the Size of a Vitamin, Weighs No More Than a Penny & Doesnāt Affect Shoulder Movement
The Micra, the world's smallest, minimally invasive cardiac pacemaker, is one tenth the size of conventional pacemakers.
Photo: °µĶųTV Langone Staff
No bigger than a large vitamin and no heavier than a penny, this pacemaker is the smallest device of its kind, and a far cry from the first pacemaker developed 60 years agoāa battery-powered box weighing half a pound that was worn around the neck.
The first successful U.S. implantation of the device, known as the Micraā¢, was performed at °µĶųTV Langone Health in 2014 by pioneering cardiologist Larry A. Chinitz, MD, director of the Heart Rhythm Center, as part of an international, multicenter clinical trial. Dr. Chinitz and his team have since implanted over 100 more.
Unlike a traditional pacemaker, which is implanted in the chest, the Micraā¢ is so small that it can be threaded through a large vein in the groin and implanted directly into the heart. For the patient, this means fewer activity restrictions and no obstructions to shoulder movement.
āThe Micraā¢ can do everything a conventional pacemaker can do,ā explains Dr. Chinitz, the Alvin Benjamin and Kenneth Coyle, Sr. Family Professor of Medicine and Cardiac Electrophysiology, āonly with far fewer complications.ā
