Medtronic Partners with High School Student to Test the Boundaries of a Micro Pacemaker in Space

Orange County, CA - August 31st 2017 -  Medtronic has partnered with 17-year-old high school student Shelbi Klingsporn to launch the world’s smallest pacemaker into space aboard a NASA spacecraft. Shelbi was personally inspired to take on this project due to a close friend receiving one in adolescence. Her idea is to test the effects of high radiation and low temperatures on the world’s smallest pacemaker during spaceflight and observe any associated difficulties. The mission is set to lift off from NASA’s facility in Virginia on June 22nd.

Once Shelbi’s design and idea were ready for submission, she contacted Cubes In Space, a private education program that, in collaboration with NASA, inspires educators around the world to involve students in science and space exploration projects. With guidance from her teachers, Shelbi was able to reach out to Medtronic, the world’s largest standalone medical technology development company with locations across the globe. The Medtronic team was able to help Shelbi and inform her on the specifications of the existing miniaturized pacemaker, the Micra.

Revolutionary not only due to its size, Micra is implanted inside the heart as opposed to the chest. Dr. Ralph Augostini, MD, FACC, a cardiologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center where one of the first implantations took place, has had plenty of practice in implanting these pacemakers. He says a main advantage of the diminutive pacemaker is the technology’s elimination of wires, or “leads” currently connecting customary pacemakers to the heart. “I think the leadless pacemaker is going to make a major impact in terms of reducing device-related infections,” said Dr. John Hummel, one of the cardiologists who participated in the clinical trials of Micra. He believes pacemaker therapy will be forever changed by wireless pacing technology. “We are looking at the beginning of the future. We will no longer pace the heart in the way we have [for] the last 20 to 30 years. This is fundamentally a paradigm shift in how we’ll deliver this therapy.”