Programmable Pacemaker
An advanced Trilogy (Trilogy, PDx and Affinity are trademarks
of Pacesetter, Inc.) cardiac pacemaker that incorporates multiple
NASA-developed technologies provides physicians with unprecedented
programming capabilities, plus more detailed information on the
patient's health and the performance of the pacing system.
Introduced in 1995 by Pacesetter Systems, Inc., Sylmar, California,
the Trilogy family of pacing systems represents a fourth generation
advancement of the programmable unit first developed in the 1970s
by NASA, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and Pacesetter
Systems.
A physician checks a patient's advanced Trilogy pacemaker.
In the latter 1970s, Pacesetter brought to the commercial
market three significant advances based on the NASA/APL/Pacesetter
collaborations: the first rechargeable, long-life pacemaker battery,
based on technology for spacecraft electrical power systems;
the first single-chip pacemaker, a product of space microminiaturization
technology that allowed a substantial reduction in the size of
implantable pulse generators; and the first pacing system to
utilize bidirectional telemetry, the NASA-developed technology
for two-way communication with satellites that provided a way
for physicians to communicate with an implanted pacemaker and
reprogram it without surgery.
In 1979, Pacesetter introduced the first commercially available
bidirectional telemetry pacing system and embarked upon an extensive
program of research and development that established the company
as a world leader in the very large bradycardia (slow heartbeat)
market. Over the years, the company has developed, refined and
improved a full line of cardiac pacing products. Pacesetter manufactures
all the components of its pacing systems: the pulse generator,
or pacemaker, which controls the heartbeat; the pacing leads,
which connect the pacemaker to the heart; and the external programmer,
which gathers information from the pulse generator that enables
assessment of the system's performance and reprogramming.
The new Trilogy family was designed, in consultation with
an international board of medical pacing experts, to address
concerns that increasingly sophisticated pacemakers were becoming
more difficult to program and manage. The Trilogy design features
a powerful microprocessor that allows more functions to be fully
automatic; this "automatic intelligence," developed
by the company's advanced PDx diagnostic and programming software,
permits a Trilogy unit to adjust many of its settings on the
basis of information it gathers about heart function. The net
results are enhanced diagnostics and easier programming.
Pacesetter, Inc. is developing a next generation of pacemakers,
to be known as Affinity, in which the number of circuitry components
will be halved yet allow incorporation of automaticity, expanded
data memory and a sophisticated, handheld PC-based programmer.
Originally part of Siemens AG, Pacesetter became-in 1994-a division
of St. Jude Medical, St. Paul, Minnesota, a leading manufacturer
of medical devices for the cardiovascular market.
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