Two weeks ago, Rambam Health Care Campus broke new ground in pioneering the next generation of pacemakers. This breakthrough technology, a pacemaker that is safe for use in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, was implanted in an Israeli patient, the first ever in the country, by Dr. Monder Boulos, the Head of the Electrophysiology and Pacemaker Unit of the Cardiology Department at Rambam Health Care Center.

The pacemaker, EnRythm MRI, is the first of its kind developed by the company Medtronic, an international leader in medical technologies for chronic diseases, that was recently awarded European CE Mark approval.

MRI is a sophisticated medical imaging device that uses a powerful magnetic field to visualize the internal structure and function of the body for routine diagnosis of diseases and other medical disorders. Patients with pacemakers cannot undergo MRI testing because of the sensitivity of the pacemaker device to the MRI stimulus that may cause it to malfunction and threaten the life of the patient.

It is estimated that about 50-75% of patients with heart implants around the world will require MRI imaging tests throughout their lifetime. In Europe alone there are roughly 2 million patients with pacemakers that cannot undergo MRI imaging because of the high health risks involved.

"While the use of MRI testing has grown tremendously over the years and has become routine, it has also become a serious obstacle for heart implant patients due to incompatibility of the pacemaker with the powerful magnetic field of the imaging technology. The innovative pacemaker by Medtronic, allows heart implant patients to safely undergo MRI testing without risks to the functioning of the device" says Dr. Boulos.

The ground-breaking device was designed, tested and approved for use with MRI machines under certain cases and conditions in Europe and Israel. Patients with EnRythm MRI pacemakers can now undergo MRI tests under specific conditions. The experts claim that this achievement is a major milestone in the development of pacemaker technology for heart implants.