A Next-generation Implantable Device: A Wirelessly Powered Intravascular Pacer

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 7 PM
CLU Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, 130 Overton Court, rooms 253/254 (second floor)

Cardiac arrhythmias and conduction disorders affect millions of patients worldwide, with nearly a million pacemaker implants performed yearly to remedy these disorders. Despite great advancements in implantable cardiac pacemaker technology in the past few decades, complications from pacemaker leads continue to compromise nearly 10% of all implants. This has motivated significant research for the development of leadless devices, including battery-based systems, power harvesting devices, and stimulators wirelessly powered through radiofrequency radiation. This presentation will focus on a novel inductive power transfer system with remote-control stimulation. This architecture is capable of significantly improving power efficiency and reducing tissue energy absorption in a highly asymmetrical system in which the pacer is made small enough to be implanted intravascularly.

Parinaz Abiri

Parinaz Abiri is a Bioengineering PhD candidate at UCLA while simultaneously pursuing her MD as a Geffen Scholar at the David Geffen School of Medicine. She completed her BS in Biomedical Engineering Summa Cum Laude at UC Irvine. During her graduate work, Parinaz has worked on several patented and published projects, including a wireless pacemaker to treat cardiac arrhythmias, a sensor to detect unstable arterial plaque, a wearable belt to monitor fatty liver disease, a virtual reality platform for simulating cardiac morphology, and a tracking system for catheters. Previous to her graduate work, Parinaz worked on device lead mechanics at Medtronic for nearly 5 years. She has also launched her own startup, PulseMed Inc, which focuses on developing a cardiac and pulmonary diagnostic tool for early disease detection.