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

Category Archives: Therapies

AIMDs classified according to general type of therapy

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→

Indian Pacemaker Companies: Shree Pacetronix and MediVed

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, CCC del Uruguay, CCC Medical, CCC Medical, MediVed, Shree Pacetronix

Shree Pacetronix Ltd., was founded in Pithampur, Dist. Dhar, India in 1988.  In 1993 the company was converted to a Public Limited Company. The company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and regional exchanges.

Pacetronix’s website shows EC type certificates for its Pinnacle SSIR (model 297), Pinnacle SSI (model 8820), Charak DDD (model ND 747), and Akash VDD (model ND 244) pacemakers. 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.

MicroTransponder’s Injectable Stimulators

Posted on by Posted in MicroTransponder, Pain, Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Wireless Power Transmission

 

MicroTransponder's concept for injectable microstimulators

From US Patent Application Publication US 2009/0163889 A1

 

MicroTransponder was founded in Dallas, TX in  2007 when it licensed technology developed at University of Texas in Dallas (UTD) by Larry Cauller, who heads the cortical connections lab. The first wireless transponder was developed under a DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics grant to create a bi-directional neural interface for a prosthetic hand. Continue reading→

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→

Intrapace Abiliti Gastric Stimulator for the Treatment of Obesity

Posted on by Posted in Gastric Stimulation, Intrapace, Mir A Imran (InCube), Obesity

Intrapace Ability IPG for Treatment of ObesityIntrapace was founded in Mountain View, CA by Mir Imran in 2001 to develop an implantable system for the treatment of obesity.  Once implanted and activated, the Abiliti system is designed to detect when a person consumes food or drink. When food or drink is detected, the system delivers a series of low-energy electrical impulses to the stomach intended to create a feeling of fullness.

In January 2011 Intrapace received the CE Mark for the Ability system.

The Ability IPG connects to the stomach via a lead that integrates the food sensor and stimulation electrodes. The sensor is able to detect food and drink and can trigger the abiliti stimulator device to create a feeling of fullness. These eating events, along with physical activity the patient engages in, are automatically recorded and available for downloading to a personal computer using the connect.abiliti Wand. 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→

EnteroMedics’ Maestro RC Vagus Nerve Stimulator for Obesity Management

Posted on by Posted in EnteroMedics, Gastric Stimulation, Obesity, Vagus Nerve Stimulation

EnteroMedics Inc. was founded in St. Paul, MN in 2002 to develop a platform for vagus-nerve stimulation, primarily for obesity management.  In March 2011 EnteroMedics received the CE Mark for its second-generation system – the Maestro RC.

The EnteroMedics Maestro RC device delivers VBLOC® vagal blocking therapy to through laparoscopically implanted leads to intermittently block the vagus nerves using high-frequency, low-energy electrical impulses. VBLOC Therapy is intended to target the multiple digestive functions under control of the vagus nerves and to affect the perception of hunger and fullness. Continue reading→

Transoma’s Sleuth Implantable Wireless ECG Monitor

Posted on by Posted in Data Sciences International, ECG Monitoring, Museum, Telemetry, Transoma

Transoma's Sleuth Implantable Wireless ECG MonitorTransoma was the name that Data Sciences International of St Paul, MN adopted in 2003 when it re-fucused its animal telemetry implant business to develop an implantable wireless system to capture electrocardiogram data for diagnosing human cardiac arrhythmias, as well as to monitor the electrical activity of the heart and transmit data from the patient’s home to monitoring centers.

In 2007, Transoma received FDA’s approval for its Sleuth implantable device to wirelessly monitor a patient’s ECG for possible diagnosis of arrhythmias and prevention of syncopal episodes.  The Sleuth ECG Monitoring System included a High Definition Implantable Loop Recorder (HD-ILR), a Personal Diagnostic Manager, a Base Station and a Monitoring Center staffed 24/7. Continue reading→

CerebralRx FitNeS Vagus Nerve Stimulator for Epilepsy Treatment

Posted on by Posted in BioControl, CerebralRx, Epilepsy, Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Yossi Gross (Rainbow Medical)
CerebralRx FitNeS vagus neurve stimulator for treatment of epilepsy

Image Credit: Biocontrol

In June 2011, Israeli neuromodulation systems developer BioControl Medical spun-off CerebralRx to market its FitNeS vagus nerve stimulation system for the treatment of refractory epilepsy.

The FitNes system employs platform technology developed for the CardioFit® system for treating congestive heart failure (HF). CerebralRx spun out of BioControl Medical to expand the use of this technology outside of cardiology for the treatment of a range of neurological disorders, including epilepsy.

Continue reading→

Cyberonics’ Vagus Nerve Stimulators

Posted on by Posted in Cyberonics, Epilepsy, Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Image credit: Cyberonics

Cyberonics was founded in Houston, TX in 1987 to develop an implantable device for the treatment of epilepsy.  In July 1997, The FDA approved the VNS Therapy System (formerly known as the NCP® NeuroCybernetic Prosthesis System) as an adjunctive epilepsy treatment for adults and children over 12 years of age with partial onset seizures refractory to drugs.

Cyberonics currently markets the VNS Pulse and VNS Demipulse IPGs, which offer approximately 6 years of longevity at nominal stimulation settings (2 mA, 20 Hz, 500 msec, 10% duty cycle into a 4 kOhm load).

Continue reading→

AIMD Companies Founded by Yossi Gross

Posted on by Posted in BetaStim, BioControl, Brainsgate, CerebralRx, Diabetes, Enopace Biomedical, Epilepsy, Heart Failure (CHF), Hypertension, Obesity, Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Yossi Gross (Rainbow Medical)

Yossi Gross (born February 5, 1947) is an Israeli medical device innovator and entrepreneur. His medical-device companies are incubated through Rainbow Medical.

Currently, the following companies led by Yossi Gross are focusing on active implantable medical devices:

  • BetaStim, developing a new neurostimulation treatment for diabetes
  • Brainsgate, developing an implantable device for acute stroke treatment and brain drug-delivery technology
  • BioControl Medical, developing neurostimulation devices
  • Enopace Biomedical, developing implantable devices for heart failure treatment through stimulation of the aorta
  • CerebralRx, a spin-off from Biocontrol developing vagus nerve stimulators for the treatment of epilepsy