Avery Biomedical Devices

Avery Biomedical Devices is a biomedical engineering and device company that invented distributes the Mark IV Breathing Pacemaker, the Phrenic Nerve Pacing device used for patients in the United States. A similar device developed in Finland is approved for use in Europe. The device is placed as an alternative to the traditional ventilator in patients with quadriplegia, central sleep apnea, diaphragm paralysis, and other respiration maladies, so long as the patient's respiratory system still has some residual function.

The Mark IV Breathing Pacemaker is a phrenic nerve stimulator, also called a diaphragm pacemaker. Phrenic nerve stimulation is a technique whereby a nerve stimulator provides electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerve to cause diaphragmatic contraction. It consists of surgically implanted receivers and electrodes mated to an external transmitter by antennas worn over the implanted receivers. An external battery-operated transmitter sends radiofrequency energy to the receiver through an antenna, which is placed on the skin overlying the receiver. The receiver converts this energy into an electric current that is directed to the phrenic nerve in order to stimulate the nerve, thereby causing contraction of the diaphragm. The surgery can be performed via either a cervical or thoracic approach. Phrenic pacing provides ventilatory support for patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency whose diaphragm, lungs, and phrenic nerves have residual function.