Minn. Already used in Britain, the device was approved in May for use in the United States. There aren't that many more revolutions left in pacemakers.
Pacemakers are electric devices that maintain a steady beat for people with heart disease.
Nationwide, surgeons install 136,000 pacemakers a year, more than 80 percent in people over 65, the American Heart Association says. Pacemakers come in a variety of types and sizes, including some that also function as defibrillators. Mrs. Burge's device is an uncommonly used type, but Dr. Schloss said many more Tristate cardiac patients will be receiving similar devices as the manufacturer introduces an entire line based on the technology. With other pacemakers, doctors can program their strength, but they typically order the devices to work twice as hard as necessary to maintain a safety margin for unpredictable fluctuations in the patient's own heartbeating power. This device automatically responds to those variations, Dr. Schloss said.