Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM
Following heart surgery, patients often have temporary epicardial electrodes inserted in order to treat cardiac arrhythmias after the procedure using an external pacemaker. However, this routine technique involves various risk factors: Firstly, complications may occur during the manual removal of the electrodes; secondly, if the electrodes cannot be removed completely, they have to be cut. The residues then remain in the body resulting in the risk of migration or infection.
Together with the TU Dresden, the Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden is developing an innovative approach whose successful implementation will help to avoid such risks: Instead of stainless steel electrodes, biodegradable electrodes made of molybdenum are used, which remain in the body after the operation and are absorbed within a certain period of time. Molybdenum offers a number of advantages: It evenly degrades in a physiological environment, has high mechanical strength and electrical conductivity and is biocompatible. The electrical insulation of the surrounding tissue is ensured by absorbable biopolymer layers.
At Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden, the mechanical and electrical properties as well as the degradability of the material used are tested and optimized and the demonstrators are built. The project is being accompanied experimentally by the medical faculty of TU Dresden, which will then test the demonstrators in preclinical studies.
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