DES MOINES - A Des Moines man this week became the first Iowan to receive a new electronic implant that doctors say should help them control congestive heart failure.

"I feel great," William Daggett, 72, joked after his surgery at Iowa Lutheran Hospital. "I feel like I could run 100 miles - on paper."

In recent months, he had often felt barely strong enough to move. "I couldn't breathe," he said. "I had no life left to me."

His heart muscle had been damaged by two heart attacks, leaving it too weak to pump blood efficiently. That led to fluid building up in his lungs, which meant frequent trips to the hospital for treatment with drugs and breathing machines.

Cardiologist Prasad Palakurthy implanted a newly approved device that combines a pacemaker with a monitor to track the problem. It isn't a treatment for heart failure, but the doctor expects it to help him prevent critical problems.

Palakurthy said he expected the new Medtronic OptiVol units to become widely used. His medical practice, the Iowa Heart Center, implanted another one this week, and it plans to do several more next week.

The device, which sits under the patient's left collarbone, sends out electrical impulses, then measures how long they take to return. Electricity travels quickly through liquid, so wetter lungs lead to faster responses.

When the liquid level rises, the device will beep, notifying the patient to get help before the problem turns critical. Doctors also can check the monitors by phone, using computerized hookups in their patients' homes.

Heart failure is an increasingly common, chronic condition. The American Heart Association estimates that 550,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year. Its causes include heart attacks and blockages of coronary arteries.

Medical advances are helping more people survive those crises, but the patients often struggle with the aftereffects.

The monitor is included in a small electronic device that also has a pacemaker, to keep the heart beating in rhythm, and a defibrillator, to shock the heart back to life if it suddenly stops.

"The beauty of this is it can do so many things," Palakurthy said.

The device costs about $35,000, but is covered by Medicare and other insurance.

Daggett, 72, said he had no qualms about being among the first patients to try a new technique.

He said he hopes to cut his hospital stays from nearly one a month to maybe two a year. He expects to have a better life, and maybe a longer one, too.

His wife, Ruth, is optimistic and thankful.

"The way he was going," she said, "he was not long for this world."