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pacemaker |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.01 sec. |
pacemakerSource 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 pacemaker [′pās‚māk·ər] (medicine) A pulsed battery-operated oscillator implanted in the body to deliver electric impulses to the muscles of the lower heart, either at a fixed rate or in response to a sensor that detects when the patient's pulse rate slows or ceases. Also known as cardiac pacemaker; heart pacer. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| NYSE:MDT) today announced that reducing right ventricular pacing to less than 10 percent in patients with dual chamber pacemakers reduced the relative risk of developing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) by 40 percent compared with conventional dual chamber pacing in a trial of more than 1,000 patients with sinus node disease. The company has five pending patents that suggest system solutions also for dual chamber pacemakers, for ventricular pacing during atrial fibrillation and for cardiac stimulation with Hemodynamic Guard(TM) (Cardiac stimulation with hemodynamic sensor guard algorithm), which may expand the company's addressable market beyond CRT devices to all implanted pacemakers and defibrillators. Although pacemaker optimization can significantly improve a patient's cardiac output, the vast majority of patients with dual chamber pacemakers are not optimized with Echo because it is a time-consuming, expensive and operator-dependent method. |
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