Biophan Technologies has been awarded a patent for a technique that avoids the need for a powerful electrical shock by predicting the onset of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and treating it with a weak signal before it occurs.

Biophan’s algorithms are built on chaos theory, which has been used previously to highlight the early signs of VF. This earlier research suggested that by detecting changes in the nonlinear or chaotic signals within an EKG, it’s possible to sense the first signs of VF. Then by applying a controlled but noisy or chaotic signal back into the heart, a normal rhythm can be regained and VF avoided altogether.

According to inventor and CEO Michael Weiner, the algorithms could easily be programmed into new implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). And because the technique uses only a fraction of the power needed for defibrillation, it could also be incorporated into pacemakers.

Full disclosure: I am affiliated with Biophan. — Amara D. Angelica, Editor