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pacemaker
(redirected from Pacemaker cells)

    Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.

pacemaker

Source of rhythmic electrical impulses that trigger heart contractions. In the heart's electrical system, impulses generated at a natural pacemaker are conducted to the atria and ventricles. Heart surgery or certain diseases can interrupt conduction (heart block), requiring use of a temporary or permanent artificial pacemaker. A small electrode attached to an electric generator outside the body is threaded through a vein into the heart. The generator, inserted beneath the skin, produces regular pulses of electric charge to maintain the heartbeat. Permanent pacemakers can also be implanted on the heart's surface.

pacemaker
1. Anatomy a small area of specialized tissue within the wall of the right atrium of the heart whose spontaneous electrical activity initiates and controls the beat of the heart
2. Med an electronic device for use in certain cases of heart disease to assume the functions of the natural cardiac pacemaker


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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
The implanted tissue has kept the guinea pig hearts beating after their natural pacemaker cells were destroyed.
Beat generation: genetically modified stem cells repair heart by Shiga, D. / Science News
How do populations of flashing fireflies or beating pacemaker cells manage to synchronize their rhythms?
Six Degrees: the Science of a Connected Age by Science News
For example, the heart's pacemaker cells coordinate their electrical activity to maintain a beat, and networks of neurons in the brain keep time and respond to certain rhythms.
Step in time: exploring the mathematics of synchronously flashing ... by Peterson, Ivars / Science News
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