Flower-like pacemaker uses light for pain-free defibrillation
Ordinarily, pacemakers correct irregular heartbeats by delivering an electric shock to the entire heart – which can be painful. An experimental new one takes a different approach, and it does so by encompassing the heart with light-emitting "petals."In a conventional pacemaker, one or two electrical leads are surgically anchored into the heart muscle. Whenever sensors within those leads detect an irregularity in the heartbeat, they respond by delivering a corrective electric shock. Unfortunately, that shock stimulates not…