Newborns’ hearing can be tested using a smartphone.
If a congenital heart defect is detected then a pacemaker is necessary. After around a week, the heart usually beats independently.
To avoid surgical procedures, a US research team has built on an earlier project to develop a miniature pacemaker. Almost as small as a sesame seed, it can be injected into the body non-invasively.
It is paired with a small, flexible device on the infant’s chest which measures the heart rate. It activates the pacemaker by sending an infrared signal if the frequency drops below a certain threshold.
Once the pacemaker becomes redundant  it dissolves naturally in the body, just like some batteries. Other pacemakers don’t require batteries at all.
