Researchers at Northwestern University have unveiled what may be the tiniest pacemaker ever created, as detailed in new research released on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

This groundbreaking device is smaller than a grain of rice and pliable enough to be administered through a syringe, facilitating a minimally invasive procedure. Notably, the pacemaker is also bioresorbable, signifying that it naturally dissolves in the body when no longer necessary—removing the requirement for a second operation to extract it.

Professor Igor Efimov, one of the primary investigators of the study, noted that about one percent of infants worldwide are born with congenital heart disorders. While these individuals generally need a pacemaker for merely a week after corrective surgery—during which time the heart begins to recover on its own—that short duration is vital. “Those seven days are absolutely crucial,” Efimov stressed in a press statement.