DALLAS – Defibrillating pacemakers are typically implanted in and around the heart, using wires to transport electrical signals.
But when a patient's heart can't handle the wires, there can be significant problems.
Now there is a wireless treatment called WiSE CRT -- short for wireless stimulation endocardially cardiac resynchronization therapy -- that is making a huge difference for some patients.
Angela Tasby, 48, has been having heart problems since 2013.
Last year, efforts to attach a defibrillator failed because her blood vessels were too small for the electrical leads.
Tasby was facing a possible heart transplant.
Today, she is on the road to recovery, because of a chip the size of a grain of rice that uses wireless technology to keep both sides of her heart pumping in sync.
"It's a blessing, so you don't have any wires hanging off you or anything. Everything is wireless, and you can continue with your daily life," Tasby said.
"It is the first device along the way to provide this sort of therapy without having to depend on leads that are mechanical devices that can fail," said Dr. Brian DeVille, electrophysiologist at Baylor Scott & White the Heart Hospital -- Plano.
DeVille confirms that the wireless cardiac resynchronization therapy study saved Tasby from open chest surgery.
"I did not look like this at first, and you can ask my family and my doctors. It's a miracle, a blessing," Tasby said.
Not only did the device save Tasby from an open chest surgical procedure, all episodes of heart failure have been completely eliminated, and she and her husband are planning a vacation they never thought they would take.