The pacemakers, which brought a great progress in the treatment of diseases of the heart, help many patients to have a better quality of life and live longer.
What is a pacemaker?
A pacemaker or heart stimulates the heart muscle at regular intervals using electrical impulses. Cardiac arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities can be treated with it. The pacemaker is a miniaturized device based on the most advanced technology. Another name for the pacemaker is the so-called pacemaker. In order for the pacemaker to perform its intended function, this miracle of medicine is predominantly implanted directly into the patient’s body. In addition to the permanent pacemaker, there are a number of other compact devices that are only left in the organism for a certain period of time. In practice, different types of pacemakers are implanted in order to reduce the risk of rejection reactions and to guarantee the most perfectly adapted heart rate support to the affected person.
Forms, types, and styles
In addition to the implanted pacemaker, cardiologists and pacemaker experts, as well as their manufacturers, distinguish between the so-called transcutaneous pacemaker and a mini implantable defibrillator. Other types of pacemakers are the permanent units as one-, two- and three-chamber units. A separate subdivision of pacemakers is based on their stimulation. This can be done by electrodes externally through the skin, esophagus, inside the heart, outside the heart, or through an implant located inside the heart.
Structure, function, and mode of action
The basics of a pacemaker are its housing and connecting leads, its drive unit, and the electrode. In addition, a pacemaker is provided with the necessary data and settings via a special programming component. The pacemaker electrodes are divided into unipolar and bipolar and into different designs. The pacemaker is programmed without a fixed connection by means of special signals and via a so-called bidirectional design. This means that the pacemaker does not have to be touched directly. This is especially important for implanted pacemakers. The setting of the pacemakers is also based on specific coding that addresses specific stimulation areas. The functioning of the pacemakers is based on minimal electric shocks which are emitted by the electrodes. These stimulate the heartbeat and cause the heart muscle to contract and relax rhythmically and evenly. The pacemaker detects when heartbeats briefly stop and stimulates the heart muscle. In addition, the pacemaker prevents life-threatening ventricular fibrillation from occurring by compensating for an increasing “heart stumble.” Highly sensitive electronic components work together in the function of the pacemaker, which can be operated by a computer- and software-supported principle. Among the most frequently used pacemakers are the devices of the VVI series. These are single-chamber pacemakers that play a central role in blocking overactivity of the heart’s ventricles. The VVI pacemaker is equally known in cardiological circles as a pacemaker that only switches on in special situations of need and only works when the cardiac ventricle is passive. If the ventricles are working normally again, this demand pacemaker can fade into the “background”. In contrast, AAI pacemakers, as atrial pacemakers, also serve to prevent ventricular fibrillation. However, they are functional from the atrium.
Medical and health benefits
It has been impossible to imagine cardiac health without pacemakers for some time in the context of increasing heart disease. Surgical implantation of a permanent pacemaker or temporary therapy with a pacemaker are justified when patients have been diagnosed with massive and life-threatening disturbances and irregularities of the rhythmic heartbeat.A pacemaker is an option when drugs for hypertension (excessive blood pressure) or a progressive weakness of the heart lead to a disturbance of the heart rate. The health-relevant effect of pacemakers lies in the fact that the stimulus formation and the transmission of the nervous stimuli of the heart can be supported. A pacemaker results in a normal coordination of all the processes going on in the heart, so that after this surgical intervention the patients feel more efficient and stable again. In addition, the pacemakers reduce the psychological stress caused by the constant fear of not surviving ventricular fibrillation. Under these positive conditions, more and more sufferers of heart disease opt for a minimal pacemaker with a maximum effect.
