How does a pacemaker work?!
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A pacemaker is a device that is set at a certain rate .say 60 beats per minute. If your heart rate drops below 60 if will shock the heart at the set voltage to make it beat and brings the rate up no that majic number. People that have a pacemaker may go above their set heart rate, but as long as the pacemeaker works, they should never drop below that give number.
There are a lot of factors that can be set when a pacemeker is implanted. In addition to the heart rate, the strength of the shock (MA), and the sensitivity to the intrinsic (one's own heart rhythm) rate can also be set. The sensitivity would tell the pacemaker how weak the heart beat should be before a heart is shocked to perform!
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my EMT instructors told me it actually detects when there is imperfect rhythm, STOPS the heart from beating, and the heart takes over on its own and restarts.WOW
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Asked the very same question to my instructor
Jessica D'Amours is right, the pace maker detects situations such as when the heart is not recieving signals to pump fast enough and zaps in with an extra charge.
What the previous answers referred to is actually an implanted automatic defibrillator. It gives you a jolt if your heart becomes unable to pump blood. A pacemaker functions differently. Instead of providing big jolts in emergencies, it provides a small charge to the rhythm center of the heart to keep your rate steady. People with symptomatic bradycardia (slow heart rate causing symptoms) might need pacing.
The pacemaker is a generator in a small box,usually about 2 inches wide and aproximately 3 ounces in weight. Some generators are even smaller, measuring 1 inch in diameter and weighing about half an ounce. They are battery-powered, and most use lithium batteries that last for 5 to 10 years. When the battery runs out, the entire generator is replaced. The generator is responsible for generating the electic impulses that correct the slow heartbeat.
Attached to the generator are one or more leads, or wires, generally made of platinum with an insulating coating of either silicone or polyurethane. The leads carry the electical impulses from the generator.
At the tip of each lead is a tiny device called an electrode that delivers the necessary electrical impulses from the generator to the heart.
Thus, the electric impulses are created by the generator, carried by the leads and delived by the electrodes to the heart
Hopfully this will give you some insight as to how the device works. Best of luck to you.
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