See Dr. Wilkoff's article and description of the major types of implanted machines at Cleveland Heart Center.
For an informative and fun version of pacemakers and their invention - by accident - by Wilson Greatbach see Inventing Modern America by David E. Brown, which presents an anthology of fascinating inventions and their stories: great for non-science types and wonderful for young people with an interest in invention and science. It is available here and on my photoblog through Amazon and its own website at Inventing America. There is a great article on the World Wide Web and the first Apple, too.
The three implantable machines are a pacemaker, which is smaller and "prevents the heart from going to slowly."
"DEFIBRILLATOR (ALSO CALLED AN ICD): This device is a bit larger and includes the activity of the pacemaker but also watches the heart for sudden fast heart rhythms." I had one of these for a time and it kept me alive and, here in the Mexican jungle; was there in case of cardiac arrest where you have a few minutes to get to a defib device and the closest is at least a half hour away, maybe four (if it is working and hasn't been stolen)
And, as I have now, which is helping amazingly: a Guidant "BIVENTRICULAR PACING OR CARDIAC RESYNCHRONIZATION DEVICES: These devices treat heart failure, a condition when the heart does not pump enough blood to the body. These devices are either a pacemaker or a defibrillator but also have an extra lead (wire that goes from the metal device to the heart). The extra lead activates another part of the heart (left ventricle) which improves the efficiency of the heart to squeeze out more blood with every heart beat"
Am I worried about the recall? Not really. It is working, I haven't been notified and my mood doesn't include having the surgery to change the one I have. Should these devices be watched more and more carefully as they multiply and become progressively more sophisticated? Absolutely!
Minor editing and formating: NB
Article comments