'Game-changer': Calgary becomes training hub for new miniaturized pacemaker
Gord Kirk knew that he needed a pacemaker.
The Calgarian said his heart would slow down to about 30 beats a minute, he could feel the time between each beat, and he would often grow faint if he was sitting down and stood up too quickly.
A week before Kirk was to receive one of the 200,000 pacemakers installed in Canada each year, he was asked if he would like to try a new innovative miniaturized pacemaker developed in part by a Calgary cardiologist. A pacemaker keeps a person's heartbeat from going too slow and helps regulate heart rhythm by sending a tiny electrical signal, causing it to beat.
"It's magic," said Kirk, who turns 69 in February.
"I can do all the exercise that I want. My sleep is fine, I have eliminated any kind of dizzy spells from low heart rate."
The new device is leadless, meaning it doesn't have wires connecting it to a person's bloodstream and then to their heart. It received Health Canada approval last year.
"It's not just sitting flopping around in the heart," Kirk said. "It's actually screwed in, I think, one or two turns into the heart muscle to anchor it and that's where it sits."
It received Health Canada approval last year.
The Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary is to become a training centre for physicians to provide the technology to future patients.
"It's a game-changer in terms of how to treat patients," said Dr. Derek Exner, a cardiologist and heart rhythm specialist. He is also an associate dean of Innovation and Commercialization at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine.
"The device is all internal. It's out of sight, out of mind and a lot of the patients we see in follow-up don't remember why they came to see us."
The first implantation of the leadless pacemaker took place in Calgary in November 2020.
Exner led Canadian and Australian teams involved in a decade-long international study and clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of the device. Foothills Medical Centre was one of 55 locations worldwide, including three in Canada.
The leadless pacemaker is about 3.8 centimetres long, which is less than the size of a AAA battery.
Exner said it's easier to implant and replace, and has a battery life of more than 15 years. It's inserted through a small incision in the groin and guided into the right lower heart chamber.
He said probably five to 10 per cent of those receiving pacemakers would benefit from the new device.
"There are patients who have issues with blood vessels in the upper arms where you can't put a regular pacemaker in and their only alternative would be open heart surgery," Exner said.
"The other is patients who have a high risk of infection, so regular pacemakers have about a one per cent risk of infection and these have about a ten times lower risk of infection."
Exner also added, "for years and years I've seen patients who say how unhappy they were (saying) 'it bothers me, it's uncomfortable.' Now we can put in these miniature devices which in fact last longer than normal pacemakers and have about half the risk."
A regular pacemaker costs about $2,000. The new miniature version has a heftier price tag of $10,000.
With files from Stephanie Thomas, CTV News
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2023
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Alleged Montreal-area 'Chinese police stations' planning to sue RCMP for $2.5 million
Two Chinese community centres in the Montreal area are planning to launch a $2.5 million defamation lawsuit against the RCMP and the Attorney General of Canada after being accused by the police force of hosting 'alleged Chinese police stations.'
With Canada set to reimpose cap on working hours, international students worry about paying for tuition, living expenses
Canada is set to reimpose the cap on the number of hours that international students can work off campus. But with heightened cost-of-living concerns in Canada, many international students say they're not sure how they'll be able to afford their tuition and living expenses if they can't work full-time.
Inmate stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times, charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say
A federal inmate was charged Friday with attempted murder in the prison stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.
Lawyer in Ali murder trial says 13-year-old B.C. victim was not an 'innocent'
Ibrahim Ali's lawyer says the 13-year-old girl he's accused of murdering in a British Columbia park wasn't the “innocent” depicted in a “rose-coloured” portrayal by the Crown at trial.
'Jumped over their heads': Kangaroo escapes Ontario zoo during overnight stay
The search for a kangaroo that escaped an Ontario zoo will resume on Saturday morning, according to volunteers attempting to catch the marsupial.
Mild, rainy winter expected as Canada warms at twice the global rate
Winter will be unusually warm and rainy across much of the country this year, according to the latest data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Paraguay official resigns after signing agreement with fictional country
A Paraguayan government official was replaced after it was revealed that he signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives of a fugitive Indian guru's fictional country, who also appear to have duped several local officials in the South American country.
CSIS to probe B.C. office after allegations of rape, harassment and toxic workplace
Canada's spy agency says it has launched a workplace assessment of its British Columbia office over 'serious allegations' raised by whistleblowers who say they were sexually assaulted and harassed by a senior officer.
Judge rejects Trump's claim of immunity in his federal 2020 election prosecution
Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution in his election interference case in Washington, a federal judge ruled Friday, knocking down the Republican's bid to derail the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.