Data availability
The data supporting the results of this study are present in the paper and Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.
Code availability
The code for connecting to the device via BLE, recording and analysing ECG data in real time, and configuring the pacing parameters in a closed-loop system is available on Code Ocean at https://codeocean.com/capsule/9406347/tree/v1 (ref. 49).
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge support from the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, the Leducq Foundation grant ‘Bioelectronics for Neurocardiology’ and the NIH grant (NIH R01 HL141470). Y.Z. acknowledges support from the National University of Singapore start-up grant and the AHA’s Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award (grant: https://doi.org/10.58275/AHA.23SCEFIA1154076.pc.gr.173925). J. Gong and Z.M. acknowledge the support from AFOSR (grant number FA9550-21-1-0081). We thank E. Dempsey, Q. Ma, N. Ghoreishi-Haack, I. Stepien and S. Han for the help in the biocompatibility study and animal experiment. This work made use of the NUFAB facility of Northwestern University’s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633), the IIN and Northwestern’s MRSEC programme (NSF DMR-1720139). This work was supported by the Developmental Therapeutics Core and the Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging (RRID:SCR_021192) at Northwestern University and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center support grant (NCI P30 CA060553).
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Extended data figures and tables
Extended Data Fig. 1 Comparisons of previously reported pacemakers and the technology introduced here.
a, Comparisons between conventional pacemakers with leads, leadless pacemakers, bioresorbable pacemakers, and the pacemaker reported here. b, Table showing details of previously reported leadless pacemakers and the pacemaker reported here. Illustration of the pacemaker with leads in a was created with BioRender.com (https://biorender.com). Bioresorbable pacemaker in a adapted from ref. 1, Springer Nature America, Inc.
Extended Data Fig. 2 Characteristics of bipolar junction transistor (BJT)-based phototransistors.
a,b, Characteristic curves of the phototransistors under various light intensities emitted from a NIR LED (850 nm, a) and a red LED (650 nm, b).
Extended Data Fig. 3 Measurement of the operational lifespan of the device.
a, EIS of an agarose gel and chicken tissue. b, The output currents of the pacemaker over days. c, Output currents of the pacemaker over days under pulsed illumination.
Extended Data Fig. 4 In vivo demonstration of cardiac pacing in mouse models.
a, Photograph showing a pacemaker placed on the surface of a mouse heart. b, ECG results before and during mouse heart pacing. c, Strength-duration curve when pacing at 480 bpm. n = 3 biologically independent animals.
Extended Data Fig. 5 Selection of LEDs and optical filters for multi-site, time-synchronized cardiac pacing.
a, Emission spectra for LEDs 1 and 2. b, Transmission curves for filters 1 and 2. c, Transmitted light intensities as a function of incident intensities from LEDs 1 and (2) for filters 1 and 2.
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Zhang, Y., Rytkin, E., Zeng, L. et al. Millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic systems for electrotherapy. Nature 640, 77–86 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08726-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08726-4