[ti:Reusing Pacemakers Could Improve Heart Care in Developing World] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.02]Health Report. [00:04.39]A pacemaker is a small device [00:07.68]that doctors place in people [00:09.86]with an abnormal heartbeat. [00:12.16]If a heart beats too slowly, [00:14.77]the pacemaker will [00:16.45]use electrical signals [00:18.26]to help set a normal rate. [00:20.93]Some devices include a defibrillator, [00:24.97]which gives a shock [00:26.34]if the heart beats too fast. [00:28.65]Pacemakers may be [00:30.57]permanent or temporary. [00:32.50]But one thing is sure. [00:35.24]Developing countries need more [00:37.91]of them as more people [00:39.72]get heart disease. [00:41.58]A big problem, however, [00:44.13]is the cost. [00:45.63]Buying and implanting [00:48.11]a pacemaker costs from five thousand [00:51.29]to fifteen thousand dollars. [00:54.34]But doctors at the University [00:57.13]of Michigan think they know [00:59.00]a way to lower that cost. [01:01.43]The idea is to reuse pacemakers. [01:05.55]Heart doctor Timir Baman [01:08.10]estimates that more than [01:09.90]one million people worldwide [01:12.33]need pacemakers each year. [01:15.38]He says reusing a pacemaker [01:18.36]is an ethical way to provide [01:21.16]health care to those who have [01:23.46]no other way to get one. [01:25.58]TIMIR BAMAN: "A country [01:26.39]such as Bangladesh or India, [01:27.76]they average less than eight [01:29.87]new implants per million. [01:31.36]In the United States, [01:33.40]we average seven hundred [01:34.33]fifty-two new implants per million." [01:36.70]He got the idea a few years ago. [01:39.75]One of his patients asked [01:41.86]if someone might be given [01:43.73]her pacemaker for reuse [01:45.84]after she died. [01:47.52]But are used pacemakers safe? [01:51.19]Doctor Baman studied medical [01:53.62]reports about the safety [01:55.36]of pacemakers that were [01:57.04]being reused in small studies. [01:59.78]TIMIR BAMAN: "We found [02:00.52]that there's no real difference [02:02.01]in device infection [02:03.01]or device malfunction [02:04.13]when you compare it to [02:05.56]new pacemaker implantation." [02:07.36]Funeral directors normally [02:09.54]remove pacemakers [02:11.03]when preparing bodies for cremation. [02:14.02]Pacemakers can explode [02:16.32]if they are burned. [02:17.69]So Doctor Baman asked [02:19.81]funeral directors in Michigan [02:21.86]to send the pacemakers to him. [02:24.22]He and other researchers [02:26.96]at the University [02:28.08]of Michigan Medical Center [02:30.19]tested the used pacemakers. [02:32.74]They cleaned and disinfected [02:35.98]the ones in good working order. [02:38.09]Then they sent them to doctors [02:40.58]in the Philippines, Vietnam and Ghana. [02:44.50]The doctors successfully implanted [02:47.73]the used pacemakers in twelve patients. [02:51.53]The findings were recently [02:53.33]presented at a conference [02:55.08]in Washington of [02:56.75]the American Heart Association. [02:59.30]Now, Timir Baman has asked [03:02.17]the United States Food [03:04.22]and Drug Administration [03:05.46]for approval to do a larger test. [03:09.20]He says -- speaking by Skype [03:11.81]from his office in Ann Arbor, [03:14.50]Michigan -- that he is hopeful [03:15.83]the program will work. [03:17.64]TIMIR BAMAN: "If we show that this is safe, [03:19.75]other academic centers [03:21.31]in the United States as well as [03:22.98]in Europe can then [03:24.35]form their own pacemaker [03:25.41]reutilization programs [03:26.53]and really help out countries in Africa, [03:28.15]really help out countries in Asia, [03:30.08]who really have no other access [03:32.19]to these type of devices." [03:34.00]And that's the VOA Special English [03:36.92]Health Report, [03:38.29]with reporting by Philip Graitcer. [03:40.65]You can find and comment [03:43.57]on our reports at 51voa.com [03:48.49]or on Facebook or Twitter [03:51.35]at VOA Learning English. [03:53.78]I'm Steve Ember.