A blog about what is new (and old) in the world of active implantable medical devices

Category Archives: History

Cook’s Sensor Kelvin and Intermedics’ Circadia Temperature-Sensing Rate-Responsive Pacemakers

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Cook Pacemaker, History, Intermedics (1974-1999), Museum

 

Cook Pacemaker's Kelvin and Intermedics' Circadia central venous temperature-controlled rate-responsive pacemakersOne of the indicators of metabolic demand that has been used for controlling the rate of pacemakers is central venous blood temperature (CVT).

In 1983, Bill Cook and Dr. Neal Fearnot began to work under the Cook Pacemaker Company on developing the technology developed by Dr. Fearnot at Purdue University into an improved prototype for a temperature-based exercise responsive pacemaker that was released in 1988 as the Kelvin Sensor rate-responsive pacemaker.  One of the first CVT rate-adaptive pacemakers was the Cook Model Kelvin 500 series.

Another one of the first CVT rate-adaptive pacemakers was the Intermedics Nova MR, which differs from the Kelvin 500 series in that its pacing algorithm had a more dynamic HR response. Continue reading→

Medtronic’s Chronicle Implantable Hemodynamic Monitor for Heart Failure Monitoring

Posted on by Posted in ECG Monitoring, Heart Failure (CHF), History, Medtronic, Telemetry
Medtronics Chronicle Implantable Hemodynamics Monitor
Image Credit: Medtronic

The Medtronic Chronicle implantable hemodynamic monitor used a specialized RV lead/sensor.  The device was able to monitor and telemeter:

  • Systolic and diastolic pressure
  • Estimated pulmonary artery diastolic pressure
  • RV dp/dt (positive & negative)
  • Heart rate & activity
  • Core body temperature
  • Continuous remote monitoring
  • Continue reading→

Medcor Corporation’s Pacemakers (ca. 1975)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Daig, History, Medcor (1971-1980), Museum, St. Jude Medical

Medcor Corporation pacemaker ca. 1975Medcor was established in Hollywood, FL in 1969, and began developing pacemakers, lead and accessories in 1971.  By 1975 it had a series of lithium-powered pacemaker in the market, but they never became popular with physicians.

On July 1980, Daig Corporation of Minnetonka, MN acquired Medcor with the expectation that Medcor pacemaker technology could be profitably marketed.

Daig had hoped to market a new line of Medcor pacemakers, but significant electronic malfunctions were encountered which foreclosed further development Medcor’s pacemaker product line. As a result of malfunctions in the first pacemaker line, FDA approval was withheld on a second Medcor line of pacemakers due to similarities in product design.

In 1981, amidst a very serious financial condition, Daig closed its doors.  The remaining assets were acquired by Daig’s largest customer – Pacesetter (now part of St. Jude Medical).

UPDATE, May 20, 2013: 

Mark Christensen – who worked at Daig Corporation from 1980 to 1986 – sent me a kind note with some additional information:  “As you note in your comments on Medcor, it was purchased by Daig in 1980 but remained as a separate business. Daig’s financial crisis in 1981 caused Daig to go into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and Medcor went to Chapter 7 – liquidation and was sold at auction in late 1981. No pacemaker company bought any of the assets. Daig reorganized, diversified into EP catheters and was bought by St Jude Medical in 1996 (15 years later).”   Thanks Mark!

 

Leptos Biomedical’s Splanchnic Nerve Stimulation For Treatment Of Obesity (2002-2010)

Posted on by Posted in EnteroMedics, Gastric Stimulation, History, Leptos Biomedical, Neural Stimulation, Obesity

Leptos Biomedical, Inc. Splanchnic nerve stimulation for treatment of obesityLeptos Biomedical was founded in Fridley, MN in 2002 by Dr. John D. Dobak.   Leptos intended to develop an implantable device to stimulate the greater splanchnic nerve, that was hoped would  result in reduced food intake and increased energy expenditure.

In February 2010 Leptos announced its closure.  Reasons were not provided, but it has been suggested that the decision was prompted by the 2009 announcement by competitor EnteroMedics’ that it had failed to meet the primary goals of its pivotal study. EnteroMedics’ Maestro device didn’t perform any better than a sham device.  EnteroMedics is now conducting a new study with the device.

Click here for Leptos Biomedical’s patents.

 

InControl’s Metrix Atrioverter (1990-1998)

Posted on by Posted in Atrial Flutter/Fib, Boston Scientific, Cardioversion/Defibrillation, Guidant, History, InControl

InControl Metric Atrioverter InControl was founded in 1990 in Redmond, WA to develop an implantable device for treating atrial fibrillation.  In November 1995, InControl announced the first human implant of its Metrix atrioverter.

The implantable atrioverter system consisted of an implantable atrial defibrillator (model 3000 or 3020) connected to right atrial (perimeter right atrial model 7205) and coronary sinus (perimeter coronary sinus model 7109) defibrillation leads and a bipolar endocardial ventricular pacing lead, a programmer, and a defibrillation systems analyzer. The device had a volume of 53cc and weighed 79 g (model 3000) or 82 g (model 3020).

The device detected AF and delivers R-wave synchronous defibrillation shocks to convert AF to sinus rhythm. It was also able to pace the ventricle after shock delivery in case of bradycardia. Shocks could be delivered at a selected voltage up to 300V. The model 3000 defibrillator had an 80µF capacitor and could deliver a maximal shock of 3J with a biphasic waveform of 3 ms/3 ms. The model 3020 defibrillator had a 160-µF capacitor with a maximal shock of 6J with a biphasic waveform of 6 ms/6 ms. Continue reading→

Glucose Fuel-Cell-Powered Implantable Devices

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, ELA Medical, Glucose Fuel-Cell, Museum, News, Sorin

Experimental glucose-powered fuel-cell pacemaker (1970s)

 

My friend, Dr. Alain Ripart – the Chief Scientific Officer at Ela Medical (now part of Sorin) showed me this interesting contraption from his personal collection.  It is an experimental glucose-powered pacemaker developed in the 1970s.  It generated electricity by acquiring its fuel (glucose) directly from a living body to generate enough current to charge two NiCd cells that powered the pacemaker. Continue reading→

American Optical’s Nuclear Pacemaker (1970’s)

Posted on by Posted in American Optical (1965-1975), Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, History, Museum, Nuclear Batteries

American Optical Nuclear Pacemaker

Barouh Berkovits at American Optical Co of Boston, MA designed the first “Demand Pacemaker” – what we now know as a VVI pacemaker.  As other companies in the 1970s, American Optical developed a nuclear-battery-powered version of their pacemaker.

American Optical used a 3Ci Pu-238 Radioisotope Thermal Generator (RTG) produced by Fred Hittman’s Hittman Nuclear Development Corp. (Model NB-200).  It consisted of a tiny 8 Ci slug of metallic Plutonium 238 (Pu-238). The radiation produced by the Pu-238 bombarded the walls of its container, producing heat that a thermopile then converted to an electrical current. A thermopile is a stack of thermocouples, which are devices that convert thermal energy directly into electrical energy using Seebeck effect. The thermocouple was made of two kinds of metal (or semiconductors) connected to each other in a closed loop. If the two junctions are at different temperatures, an electric current will flow in the loop. Continue reading→

Arco Medical’s Nuclear-Powered Pacemaker (ca.1974)

Posted on by Posted in Arco Medical (1969-1980), Cardiac Pacing, History, Museum, Nuclear Batteries
Arco pacemaker powered by a plutonium 238 RTG

Image Credit: Arco Medical Products Co. (1974)

An isotopic thermoelectric generator was developed in the US by Numec Corporation under a contract from the US Atomic Energy Commission and sold for $3,200 (back in 1974). The thermopile consisted of doped bismuth telluride pairs that were placed in a parallel/series arrangement to generate some 300 μW of power to run this Arco Medical model NU-5F pacemaker. Continue reading→

Medtronic’s Atomic Pacemaker (early 1970’s)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, History, Medtronic, Museum, Nuclear Batteries

Medtronic's atomic pacemaker powered by an Alcatel plutonium 238 RTG

In the late 1960s Medtronic – today the largest manufacturer of implantable medical devices in the world – teamed up with Alcatel, a French company, to design a nuclear-powered pacemaker. The first human implant of the device took place in Paris in 1970.

The nuclear battery in the Medtronic device used a tiny 2.5 Ci slug of metallic Plutonium 238 (Pu-238). The radiation produced by the Pu-238 bombarded the walls of its container, producing heat that a thermopile then converted to an electrical current. A thermopile is a stack of thermocouples, which are devices that convert thermal energy directly into electrical energy using Seebeck effect. A thermocouple is made of two kinds of metal (or semiconductors) connected to each other in a closed loop. If the two junctions are at different temperatures, an electric current will flow in the loop. Continue reading→

CCC del Uruguay’s Atomic Pacemaker (1972)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, CCC del Uruguay, CCC Medical, History, Museum, Nuclear Batteries

Promethium Betacell-Powered Atomic Pacemaker Manufactured by CCC in 1972

This nuclear pacemaker was manufactured ca. 1972 by Dr. Orestes Fiandra’s CCC del Uruguay. It was powered by a McDonell-Douglas Betacel 400 which had promethium-147 sandwiched between semiconductor wafers. As the radioactive promethium isotope decays, it emits β-particles (electrons). The impact of the β-particles on a p-n junction causes a forward bias in the semiconductor similar to what happens in a photovoltaic cell (a solar cell).

The Betacel 400 had an open-circuit voltage of 4.7V and a short circuit current of 115μA. The maximum power output was 370μW.   CCC’s pacemaker was expected to last for 10 years when powered by this nuclear battery. Continue reading→

CCC del Uruguay’s Early Mercury-Cell Pacemaker (1969)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, CCC del Uruguay, CCC Medical, History, Museum

1969 CCC del Uruguay Pacemaker

This is one of my most prized possessions.  It is one of the very first pacemakers produced by CCC del Uruguay in 1969.  It was given to me by my friend, the late Dr. Orestes Fiandra, founder of CCC del Uruguay.

On February 2, 1960, Dr. Orestes Fiandra and Dr. Roberto Rubio accomplished the first succesful long-term human implant of a pacemaker. The pacemaker was manufactured by Dr. Rune Elmqvist of Elema-Schönander in Sweden, and was implanted in Uruguay in a 34-year-old patient with AV block. This unit worked successfully for nine and a half months, until the patient died of sepsis from an unrelated infection.

In 1969, Dr. Fiandra started the “Centro de Construccion de Cardioestimuladores del Uruguay” (CCC for short) with the purpose of producing pacemakers for use in Latin America at prices well under those of American devices.  The device in the photograph above is one of these devices – a simple VOO pacemaker powered by 5 mercury cells encapsulated in epoxy resin.

 

CCC Medical – Top OEM to AIMD Start-Ups

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, CCC del Uruguay, CCC Medical, CCC Medical, History, Pain, Ultra-Low-Power ICs, Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Wireless Power Transmission
CCC del Uruguay Teros SSI pacemaker model 503CCC is one of the oldest pacemaker manufacturers in the world. It was founded in 1969 by Dr. Orestes Fiandra, who performed the first succesful, human, long-term pacemaker implant in the world.

This was achieved in Uruguay on February 2, 1960 by Dr. Orestes Fiandra and Dr. Roberto Rubio. The pacemaker was manufactured by Dr. Rune Elmqvist of Elema-Schönander in Sweden, and was implanted in Uruguay in a 34-year-old patient with AV block. This unit worked successfully for nine and a half months, until the patient died of sepsis from an unrelated infection. Continue reading→

Omikron Scientific – Israeli Pacemaker Company (1979-1985)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, History, Museum, Omikron Scientific (1979-1985)

Omikron Scientific Model 811 Pacemaker

Omikron Scientific was a small-scale pacemaker company founded in Rehovot, Israel in 1979.  The company stopped pacemaker production in 1985.

Besides pacemakers, Omikron also produced a skin substitute called Omniderm, which was a thin, transparent, flexible membrane. It was used when a biological dressing would otherwise have been used.

Omikron’s pacemakers were all VVI and featured gradual decline Magnet Rate & Programmed Rate.  Models included the 811 (6.5 year longevity), 811L (10 year longevity), 811XL (14 year longevity), 821 (VVIM with 8 year longevity), 837, a 838 (6.5 year longevity).

Click here for Omikron’s patents.

Northstar Neuroscience’s Renova Cortical Stimulation System (1999-2009)

Posted on by Posted in Brain Stimulation, Museum, Northstar Neuroscience (1999-2009), Stroke

Northstar's Renova Implantable Stimulator for the Treatment of Stroke

Northstar was founded in 1999 as Vertis Neuroscience headquartered in Seattle, WA, and the original goal was to develop electrical stimulation for chronic back pain.  In 2003, under its new name, Northstar Neuroscience, then developed the Renova cortical stimulation system to deliver targeted electrical stimulation to the brain cortex as a treatment for stroke-related upper extremity. Continue reading→

Transneuronix Transcend IPG for Obesity Treatment

Posted on by Posted in Gastric Stimulation, Medtronic, Museum, Obesity, Transneuronix

Transneuronix Transcend Implantable Gastric Stimulator for Treatment of ObesityTransneuronix, Inc. was founded in 1995 and was based in Mount Arlington, New Jersey. It was acquired by Medtronic in 2005.

Before its acqusition by Medtronic, Transneuronix developed the Transcend, an implantable gastric stimulator device for the treatment of obesity by electrical stimulation of the stomach.  Later, Medtronic developed the Transcend II IPG. Continue reading→