Marshfield Clinic Using New Technology to Treat Dangerous Heart Arrhythmias

Friday, April 17th, 2026 -- 11:01 AM

(Cheryl Hentz, The Business News) Marshfield Clinic is using new technology to treat dangerous heart arrhythmias, conditions that can lead to sudden cardiac death.

According to Cheryl Hentz with The Business News, earlier this year, Electrophysiologist Weijia Wang said the health system completed Wisconsin’s first implant of the Medtronic OmniaSecure™, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) lead used in cardiac resynchronization therapy, at Marshfield Medical Center.

Defibrillators, Wang said, treat life-threatening arrhythmias by monitoring the heart’s rhythm and delivering an electrical shock when needed to restore a normal heartbeat. A lead placed in the heart, he said, continuously monitors rhythm and delivers an electrical shock when needed to restore a normal heartbeat. Wang, who performed the procedure, said the biggest challenge with defibrillators often comes down to the lead itself.

“A typical lead would be the size of two or three [strands of] spaghetti, and veins are not all that big, they’re like a small tube,” he said. “So, when you put a lead into a vein, it can be pretty crowded. If you have too much stuff there and it’s too crowded, it really can affect the blood flow.”

Wang said the lead’s size and length inside the heart also make it prone to breaking. “Once that lead breaks, it’s difficult to get out, and the tissue can grow onto and around the lead,” he said. “This new lead is much smaller, maybe the size of angel-hair spaghetti.”

In Marshfield Clinic’s recent milestone procedure, Wang said he used the new lead for left bundle branch area pacing, successfully correcting a patient’s left bundle branch block (LBBB) and delivering single‑lead cardiac resynchronization to treat heart failure.

Traditional cardiac resynchronization therapy, he said, typically requires two or three leads. This new approach with fewer components, Wang said, means less trauma to vessels during implantation, a quicker post-procedure recovery and reduced long‑term maintenance issues.

He said what’s unique about the new lead is that it functions not only as a defibrillator but also restores normal electrical conduction. Wang said this technology helps return patients’ heart rhythms to their natural patterns while being less invasive.

“After that lead was put in, the heart was beating in sync, was beating stronger and more efficiently and was pumping blood the way it should,” he said. “It’s like a rowing team where everyone is rowing in sync at the same time.”

Wang said the engineering work that went into this lead was “remarkable.” “Our job is to find the best and most state-of-the-art technology and to provide it to the right patients,” he said. “We’re grateful we were able to partner with a vendor who could help us do that.”

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