A highly miniaturized, wireless, battery-free pacemaker enabled successful chronic electrical and optogenetic pacing in small animal models with excellent biocompatibility over 6 weeks.
A novel wireless, battery-free implantable pacemaker enables untethered multimodal pacing and optogenetic stimulation in small animal models, advancing preclinical cardiovascular research capabilities.
Small animals support a wide range of pathological phenotypes and genotypes as versatile, affordable models for pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases and for exploration of strategies in electrotherapy, gene therapy, and optogenetics. Pacing tools in such contexts are currently limited to tethered embodiments that constrain animal behaviors and experimental designs. Here, we introduce a highly miniaturized wireless energy-harvesting and digital communication electronics for thin, miniaturized pacing platforms weighing 110 mg with capabilities for subdermal implantation and tolerance to over 200,000 multiaxial cycles of strain without degradation in electrical or optical performance. Multimodal and multisite pacing in ex vivo and in vivo studies over many days demonstrate chronic stability and excellent biocompatibility. Optogenetic stimulation of cardiac cycles with in-animal control and induction of heart failure through chronic pacing serve as examples of modes of operation relevant to fundamental and applied cardiovascular research and biomedical technology.
Gutruf et al. (Tue,) conducted a other in Healthy small animal models (rats and mice) (n=13). Wireless, battery-free, fully implantable multimodal pacemaker was evaluated on Implantation survival. A highly miniaturized, wireless, battery-free pacemaker enabled successful chronic electrical and optogenetic pacing in small animal models with excellent biocompatibility over 6 weeks.