Canadians benefiting from leadless pacemaker to regulate heartbeats

An advanced pacemaker is offering Canadians more benefits after getting approved by Health Canada, according to a Calgary cardiologist and medical researcher.

Dr. Derek Exner, cardiologist and heart rhythm specialist with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and researcher at the University of Calgary (UCalgary), has been working on developing a “miniaturized pacemaker,” leading a Canadian and an Australian team to evaluate its effectiveness. The team worked with global healthcare company Abbott.

Health Canada approved the “Abbott AVEIR technology” last summer, giving patients the opportunity to use the the device after a decade of research and clinical trials.

“The approval is a game changer in cardiovascular care and improved care for Canadians. It allows Canadians access to this new pacemaker technology, and that means improved quality of life,” Dr. Exner said.

“One of the truly amazing things is patients forget that they have a pacemaker. That’s really rewarding, taking the device from a place where its a slight inconvenience to a place where they forget they have it.”

‘I go days without even thinking about it’

Sixty-eight-year-old Gord Kirk’s heart rate started slowing down when he’s resting, making his resting heart so low, which made him feel dizzy and often faint upon standing or moving in the late 1980s.

Kirk’s doctor suggested he visit a cardiologist, and in February 2021, he was advised to have a conventional pacemaker installed.

“Dr. Exner said I was a candidate for a clinical trial. When he explained the device to me and what it offered, I saw only upside,” said Kirk. “I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a leadless pacemaker.”

“It’s kind of boring, actually. It’s been great and I don’t feel any of the symptoms I used to — the lightheaded spells and dizziness. It’s just back to normal. I go days without even thinking about it.”

New Innovation: Leadless pacemaker

Pacemakers help patients who have slow heartbeats, as it regulates the heart rhythm by sending a small electric signal to the heart, resulting in heartbeats.

The new pacemaker is leadless, which means it is made without “wires connecting it to a person’s bloodstream and then to their heart.”

The Abbott AVEIR leadless pacemaker is smaller than the traditional ones, measuring around three quarters the size of an AAA battery, and is “shaped like the tip of a pen.”

Its battery lasts more than 15 years. Most importantly, it is easy to implant and replace. It is also less invasive, and is “inserted through a small incision in the groin and guided into the right lower heart chamber.”

The device was first implemented in Calgary in November 2020. Research is in partnership with AHS and is expected to continue at UCalgary, making the city a “training hub.”

The study was operated in 55 locations around the world, and Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre (FMC) was among the three Canadian locations.

February is Heart Month, and more than 200,000 patients live with pacemakers in Canada.