Artificial pacemaker
Overview
Medical device
A medical device is a product which is used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis, therapy or surgery . Whereas medicinal products achieve their principal action by pharmacological, metabolic or immunological means. Medical devices act by other means like physical, mechanical, thermal,...
that uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrode
Electrode
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit...
s contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
. The primary purpose of a pacemaker is to maintain an adequate heart rate
Heart rate
Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute . Heart rate can vary as the body's need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during exercise or sleep....
, either because of the heart's native pacemaker
Sinoatrial node
The sinoatrial node is the impulse-generating tissue located in the right atrium of the heart, and thus the generator of normal sinus rhythm. It is a group of cells positioned on the wall of the right atrium, near the entrance of the superior vena cava...
is not fast enough, or there is a block in the heart's electrical conduction system
Electrical conduction system of the heart
The normal intrinsic electrical conduction of the heart allows electrical propagation to be transmitted from the Sinoatrial Node through both atria and forward to the Atrioventricular Node. Normal/baseline physiology allows further propagation from the AV node to the ventricle or Purkinje Fibers...
. Modern pacemakers are externally programmable and allow the cardiologist to select the optimum pacing modes for individual patients.
