CIIE-launched pacemaker used in over 700 Chinese patients

More than 700 patients in China have been implanted with the world's smallest leadless cardiac pacemaker, which was launched in the China market during last year's China International Import Expo (CIIE), said a national leading cardiovascular expert.

Figures regarding the clinical safety of the minimally invasive surgery for the capsule-sized device implantation and after-surgery patient conditions are both in the world's first class so far, Zhang Shu, director of the arrhythmia branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and head of the Arrhythmia Center at Beijing Fuwai Hospital Affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said during an exclusive interview with China Daily on Wednesday.

This product by Medtronic, an Ireland-based medical technology company, made its China debut during the inaugural CIIE in 2018. The size of the device is less than 10 percent that of a conventional one and its weight is only 2 grams.

Such a small size and weight makes it possible for a pacemaker to be implanted directly into the patient's heart via an applicator inserted into the upper leg, and without a chest incision or scars, which usually come with a conventional one, Zhang said.

He said such revolutionary leadless pacemakers achieve the same effect as the traditional devices clinically, and the patients can use them for at least 10 years without feeling their existence.

Zhang said such simultaneous and parallel development of innovative pacemaker technologies at home and abroad is "an epitome of how China's further opening-up benefits its people as well as other countries".

The company is showcasing an upgraded edition of this leadless pacemaker during the ongoing CIIE held in Shanghai. The new device may benefit a wide range of Chinese patients suffering from bradycardia, said a senior executive from the company.

Altogether 75 percent of all the arrhythmia patients qualified to resort to a conventional cardiac pacemaker can use this new device, which is of almost the same size and weight of its last edition, said Laura Huang, vice-president of cardiac rhythm and heart failure at Medtronic Greater China.

Registration application of the medical device, which was launched in the US and the European Union in April and has been used for roughly 5,000 patients in the US, has been submitted to the Chinese authority, according to Huang.

Medical experts said the number of arrhythmia patients is estimated at more than 10 million in the country.