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The world's first pacemaker designed for safe use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was commercially available in Hong Kong Sunday.

The first-ever MR-Conditional pacemaker system, named the " EnRhythm MRI SureScan pacemaker and CapSureFix MRI SureScan pacing leads", was designed, tested and approved for use with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) under specified scanning conditions.

Patients receiving the EnRhythm MRI SureScan Pacing System will for the first time be able to undergo MRI scans under certain conditions, representing a major milestone in the evolution of implantable cardiac devices.

Lau Chu Pak, former president of Hong Kong College of Cardiology, said that approximately 2 million Europeans have implanted pacemakers, but these patients are prohibited from receiving MRI scans, a widely practiced diagnostic method for manycommon diseases and conditions, because their device could interact with MRI machines, potentially affecting the device or patient safety. According to estimates, 50-75 percent of patients worldwide with implanted cardiac devices are expected to need an MRI scan during the lifetime of their devices.

Lau said the EnRhythm MRI SureScan pacing system includes modified hardware to minimize the level of energy transmitted through the lead/device connection point. In addition, the new system also includes a new SureScan feature designed to eliminate the impact of MRI-generated electrical noise, as MRI scanners may cause traditional pacemakers to misinterpret this noise and as a result withhold or deliver unnecessary pacing therapy. The device and leads also contain radiopaque marks, viewable via X-ray, to indicate that the system is MR-Conditional, a classification indicating a medical device may be used in the MRI suite under certain conditions.

Source: Xinhua