Latest news with #pacemaker
South China Morning Post
05-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
How a pacemaker, smaller than a grain of rice, could revolutionise cardiac medicine
A new, tiny pacemaker, smaller than a grain of rice, could play a big role in the future of medicine, according to the engineers who developed it. Researchers at Northwestern University in the US state of Illinois unveiled the device, which they say is the smallest pacemaker in the world, in a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Nature. The device is still years away from being used in humans, but it could eventually be useful for infants with congenital heart defects and for adults, the researchers say. 'I think it's really exciting technology that will change how electrical stimulation is done,' says Igor Efimov, a Northwestern experimental cardiologist who co-led the study. Play The device – which is just 1.8mm (1/16th of an inch) wide, 3.5mm long and 1mm thick – can be inserted with a catheter or syringe.
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Sport icon Dawn Fraser reveals the distressing amount of weight she's lost - and her chilling moment after horror fall: 'I didn't want to die that way'
Aussie sporting icon Dawn Fraser has revealed she lost 22kg following a fall on her driveway in December last year - and that she could have died following subsequent surgery. Fraser, 87, is a national treasure after winning Olympic gold in the 100m freestyle at three successive Summer Games, between 1956 and 1964. 'The pain was excruciating,' she told News Corp when reflecting on the serious fall at her Noosa home on Queensland 's Sunshine Coast in December last year. 'I'd never felt pain like that before. I've never sort of fallen or broken anything in my life and it was a shock to me.' And the cause of the fall? Fraser was trying to open a case of soft drink when she slipped on a small ledge and fell onto hard concrete. Fraser's hospital X-rays were grim - they revealed a broken hip, four cracked ribs and potential internal bleeding. Given her age, the anaesthetist then warned 'Dawny' she may not survive the operation. 'When the anaesthetist came in and said I could die, that was the frightening part,' Fraser recalled. 'I didn't want to die that way, so that put my will up to come through and come out of it.' Thankfully, everything went according to plan - only for Fraser to then endure a heart scare weeks later. Now fitted with a pacemaker, Fraser's heart is monitored 24 hours a day. Acknowledging she has to slow down has been a battle. She was on anti-depressants, but an old friend - swimming - has helped keep Fraser mentally strong. Fraser also admitted the recent setbacks have resulted in one of the toughest periods of her life. 'This has been the biggest challenge, absolutely,' she said. 'It's not something I thought I'd (ever) have to face. 'But now it's there in front of me. Winning the gold medals was much easier. I feel so lucky I survived.' In terms of attending the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, it remains to be seen if Fraser will be poolside. She will be 95 - but you never write off a champion.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
New pacemaker being tested in New Zealand
A pacemaker X-ray image. Photo: 123RF A new pacemaker being tested in New Zealand could help patients with heart failure feel and move better. The device has been designed to copy the heart's natural rhythm, speeding up and slowing down in sync with breathing. The first trial patient got one at Waikato Hospital just before Christmas. Cardiologist and University of Auckland medicine Professor Dr Martin Stiles, who was overseeing the trial, said the new pacemaker showed promising results in a study with sheep with heart failure. The university tested whether sheep's ability to exercise was improved by a variable heart pacemaker. Sheep's heart functions are similar to humans. "Sheep with this respiratory variability pacing had an increase in their cardiac output by 23 percent compared to the sheep who were paced in the normal fashion. This is a dramatic increase in cardiac output," Stiles said. "Furthermore, what we've shown is that those sheep are fitter so that they can exercise more and their heart rate recovers much quicker than the sheep that have the other sort of pacing." Stiles said Auckland, Adelaide, Melbourne and Bristol in the UK were other potential centres for trials. "Once we get these trials underway, we hope to roll it out more widely, initially probably in patients who are receiving pacemakers anyway, who have heart failure. But ultimately, perhaps it might be a treatment on its own, that is to say if someone doesn't need a pacemaker, this could be a reason to put one in," he said. "We've been talking to some of the larger pacemaker companies about trying to take on this technology and develop it with us. "Once you have one of these technologies getting it out to the wider world is challenging, but we're hopeful we can and we're really proud to be doing this in New Zealand, leading it from New Zealand." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
‘My heart stopped': Olympic legend Dawn Fraser's chilling revelation
Australian sporting icon Dawn Fraser has revealed her heart stopped weeks after she had a serious fall last year as she detailed just how close she has come to death not just once but twice in the past six months. Last December, the Olympic legend had a nasty fall at her Noosa home which landed her in the ICU. The Australian Olympic swimming legend tripped on an unfinished driveway, breaking her ribs and a major hip bone. Fraser was then informed she needed a hip replacement but was chillingly told by doctors in no uncertain terms it was not a safe operation and she could die on the operating table. So doctors asked if she would give consent to her daughter Dawn-Lorraine to make medical decisions. 'That was the frightening part, was the fact that I might die under anaesthetic and I didn't want to die that way,' Fraser told 10 News presenter Sharyn Ghidella in an interview on Wednesday. Weeks after the fall, Fraser again looked death in the face when she suffered a cardiac episode while at the local surf club and revealed her heart had even stopped for several seconds. 'Unfortunately, I started to feel very faint and I fainted,' she said. 'They said that my heart had stopped for five seconds and I had a very low heart rate.' Fraser was subsequently fitted with a pacemaker and has since begun her long recovery which her daughter labelled 'a nightmare'. 'It's been a nightmare, she's been a nightmare,' her daughter Dawn-Lorraine told 10 News. Fraser's recovery has been a difficult road. She has lost 22kg and has battled with depression. But now almost six months old, Fraser says while he is still a 'little bit fragile on her feet' she fights every day to get better. 'I can still shower myself and take myself to the bathroom, but I can't make my own bed or open many doors,' she continued. 'It's a fight every day, but at least I'm doing it. Some days I feel 87. Other days, I don't … I lost a lot of strength and weight, but I'm fighting to get it back.' Fraser is one of Australia's greatest-ever Olympians winning two golds in the 100m freestyle and 4x100 free at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Fraser also won gold in the 100m freestyle at the 1960 Olympics and again at the 1964 Games. In her illustrious swimming career, Fraser broke 27 world records and was the first female athlete to be handed a Legend status by the Australian Sport Hall of Fame in 1993.
