Cardiac Electronic Implantable Devices in the Treatment of Heart Failure

A LOW TEMPERATURE INCREASE TRANSCUTANEOUS BATTERY CHARGER FOR IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICES

Many medical groups have used wireless battery charging technology for rechargeable batteries used in implantable devices. During charging, battery heat is lost from the battery and other heat sources within an implantable device, which may be harmful to patients’ tissues. Therefore, charging batteries with minimum discomfort to patients while replenishing battery capacity as much as possible is a challenge. In this paper, a constant voltage with a different limiting current strategy for a lithium-ion polymer battery is proposed, thereby modulating the limiting current rate that reduces battery temperature increase. Experiments show that better safety charging performance for 260, 600, and 1000[Formula: see text]mAh lithium-ion polymer batteries can be obtained by the proposed current-limiting method. Compared with conventional constant-current–constant-voltage charging strategies, the maximum battery temperature increase is improved.

Sensor-based microphysiometry

The capability of continuously monitoring cells and tissues in real-time for hours or days supports the value of a sensor-based microphysiometric approach. While there are widespread applications now for in-vitro settings, the use for smart, implanted devices is just beginning. The spectrum of analysed functional parameters comprises cellular morphological dynamics, metabolic activity and patterns of electric activity. An outline of a study on human tumor tissue samples gives an example of the potential benefits and challenges of in-vitro microphysiometry.

Old and new tools to assess dyspnea in the hospitalized patient

In the assessment of dyspnea one has to take into account both the patient's own experience of the symptom and the clinicians observations of breathing rates, sounds and effort to get a complete picture. In addition, to choose appropriate treatment, the underlying cause of dyspnea needs to be assessed. While tools for clinical evaluation of heart failure have gained great interest in research and found a place in guidelines and clinical practice, the same cannot be said for instruments to assess patient self-reported dyspnea. To date, no specific dyspnea rating tool has been recommend over another. Reports from clinical practice are lacking and large; international studies in this field are warranted.