Genetically engineered pacemakers could be a possible alternative to implantable electronic devices for the treatment of bradyarrhythmias. The strategies include upregulation of beta adrenergic receptors, conversion of myocytes into pacemaker cells and stem cell therapy. Pacemaker activity in adult ventricular myocytes is normally repressed by the inward rectifier potassium current (I(K1)). The...

Implantable pacemaker is a battery operated real time embedded system, which includes software/hardware codesign strategy. As it is placed within the heart by surgery, battery life is an important constraint to extend device lifetime. In this paper, pacemaker’s functionalities like basic pacing, pulse width, refractory period in VOO mode has been realized using ultralow power processor MSP 430F...

Currently, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging is contraindicated in patients with a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. This study was carried out because the potential risks in this situation need to be clearly defined. This prospective study evaluated clinical and electrical parameters before and after magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 33 patients (five with implant...

BACKGROUND To test the hypothesis that the oral cavity is a potential source for implantable pacemaker and cardioverter defibrillators infections, the bacterial diversity on explanted rhythm heart management devices was investigated and compared to the oral microbiome. METHODS A metagenomic approach was used to analyze the bacterial diversity on the surfaces of non-infected and infected pacem...

From the first pacemaker implant in 1958, numerous engineering and medical activities for implantable medical device development have faced challenges in materials, battery power, functionality, electrical power consumption, size shrinkage, system delivery, and wireless communication. With explosive advances in scientific and engineering technology, many implantable medical devices such as the ...

The number of artificial cardiac pacemakers is increasing, as is the number of bodies being cremated. Because of the explosive potential of pacemakers when heated, a statutory question on the cremation form asks whether the deceased has a pacemaker and if so whether it has been removed. We sent a questionnaire to all the crematoria in the UK enquiring about the frequency, consequences and preve...

It is well known that radiotherapy causes malfunctions of cardiac implantable electronic devices such as pacemaker (PM) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator because of incidental neutron production. Here, we report our experience with two cases of PM reset among seven patients with PM who underwent proton beam therapy (PBT) from January 2011 to April 2015 at our centre. Our experience sho...

2799 According to a recent worldwide survey, current rates of de novo pacemaker and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation are higher than those of previous years at >700 000 and >200 000 per year, respectively. Parallel to the growth in cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) use, technological advances have led to new sources of electromagnetic radiation. Modern...