Introduction

Pacemakers are implantable devices used to control heart rate and rhythm in patients for whom arrhythmia is an intrinsic r&r inhibitor.

A lead, or leads, are inserted into the atrium and/or ventricles and the pacemaker box device sends electrical stimulus to the heart via this mechanism, in order to trigger depolarisation. The majority of pacemakers are designed to perform four functions:

• Stimulate cardiac depolarisation
  • Capture
    • Depolarisation of chambers in response to a pacing stimulus
• Sense intrinsic depolarisation
  • Sensing
    • Detection of intrinsic cardiac activity
• Respond to increased metabolic demand by increasing pacing volume
  • During exercise, the device increases HR to increase cardiac output
• Provide diagnostic information via internal storage
  • Cardiac events
  • Battery life
  • Functional instructions

Pacemaker systems come in a number of forms, with multiple functions, and there exist many devices across numerous manufacturers.