一種新型心衰治療方法應用一種類似起搏器樣的設備來加強心臟泵功能。

這種新設備包括脈沖發生器叫做Optimizer系統，能夠將電信號傳送至泵活動中心區域的心肌中，“欺騙”其產生更多的細胞內鈣離子，從而增加心臟泵功能和收縮的活力。入選一項臨床研究的患者正在接受這種設備的安全性和治療效能的研究。

Optimizer系統包括一種程序化的植入脈沖發生器、便攜式程序器、和兩個右心室導聯。起搏器側重于調節心臟節律，Optimizer系統則以一項叫做心臟收縮調制(CCM)的新技術為基礎。與起搏器信號不同，CCM信號是非刺激性的，意味著信號能夠在絕對不應期傳送，而且不會啟動新的收縮。根據研究人員的說法，CCM信號觸發心臟細胞內循環的鈣離子的反應，能夠提高心肌收縮力量，而不會增加總體工作負荷。

Beth Israel 醫學中心(New York, NY, USA)心衰項目主任、在該醫院進行的臨床試驗的首席研究員Jill Kalman醫生說：“在減少工作負荷的同時，增加心臟泵功能的潛能，能夠用于治療III級或者IV級心臟功能衰竭患者，”

Optimizer系統是由Impulse Dynamics(USA)集團(Orangeburg, NY, USA)制造的， 這是Impulse Dynamics N.V. (Netherlands Antilles)公司的全資附屬公司。

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An innovative new treatment for heart failure uses a pacemaker-like device to help strengthen the heart’s pumping power.

The new device involves a pulse generator called the Optimizer system that delivers electrical signals to the heart muscle in the midst of its pumping action, fooling it into producing more intracellular calcium and thereby increasing the heart’s ability to pump and contract. Patients are now being enrolled in a study to investigate the safety and efficacy of the device.

The Optimizer system consists of a programmable implantable pulse generator, a portable programmer, and two right-ventricle leads. While pacemakers focus on modulating the heart’s rhythm, the Optimizer system is based on new technology known as cardiac contractility modulation (CCM). Unlike pacemaker signals, CCM signals are non-excitatory, meaning they are delivered during the absolute refractory period and therefore cannot initiate a new contraction. According to the investigators, the result is that CCM signals trigger a response in the calcium that is cycling within the heart cells in a way that improves the strength of the heart muscle’s contraction, without adding to its overall workload.

“The potential to improve the heart’s pumping ability while decreasing its workload would present a significant development in treating patients with class III or class IV heart failure,” observed Jill Kalman, M.D., director of the heart failure program at Beth Israel Medical Center (New York, NY, USA) and lead investigator of the trial at the hospital.

The Optimizer system is manufactured by Impulse Dynamics (USA), Inc. (Orangeburg, NY, USA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Impulse Dynamics N.V. (Netherlands Antilles).