The Pacemaker Patch: An External Ultrasound Approach to Pacing the Heart

Researchers envision a chest-mounted patch that uses high-frequency ultrasound to pace the heart, made possible by a gene-therapy step that makes heart cells produce a sound-sensitive protein; the system would pair with a pocket-sized data/power module and has shown responses in rats, pigs, and human heart cells. While intriguing as a potential alternative to implanted pacemakers, it remains experimental, with safety, regulatory, and practicality questions to resolve before clinical use.