Lesson 2: Can your heart run on battery?

Hi,

Yes, your heart can run on battery. Pacemakers are small electronic devices that regulate heartbeats and they run on battery.

Why have battery operated heart?

It can prevent stroke in the elderly.



It is fitted if the heartbeats are too slow or too fast or irregular.
These arrhythmic heart beat can lead to stoke or even sudden death.
Atrial fibrillation is when the upper heart chambers are not pumping blood into the lower chambers (ventricles) normally.



If the flow of blood out of the heart is slow, or sluggish, then blood will start to form clots or lumps. These lumps will then break off and move along the blood vessels and may block the blood to the brain causing stroke(brain attack), blood to the heart muscles causing heart attack or blood to the lungs causing breathing problems (lung attack).

Who can have pacemakers?

People who have fainting spells, near blackouts and breathlessness after walking.
Pacemakers have been around for 50 years.
More than 3,000 people in Singapore have them. The cheapest model is only $3000, when subsidised by the government.
Each year about 75 people have pacemakers fitted into them in Singapore.

How does the pacemaker work?

The battery sends electrical signals to the atria to make them pump normally.
If the ventricles are not working normally, a 2nd or 3rd wire can shock the heart to beat properly. This is called Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)
If the heart stops beating, as in sudden deaths in athletes, the pacemaker will shock it into working too.

Is it true that pacemakers are affected by telecommunication devises?
Yes. They have to keep away from mobile phones, microwaves, MP3 music players and airport electronic screening as they interfere with the battery's electrical signals.

What is AED?

Ambulance personnel are usually trained to use the Automated External Defibrillator or AED. It is simple to use to revive the heart that has stopped or has irregular heartbeat.

This is a portable light-weight electronic devise that is carried in most ambulances, fire and police vehicles. In Japan, it can be found in railway stations, shopping centres, health clubs and other places where sudden cardiac arrests may occur.




Cheers