Related topics: heart

Pacemaker channel discovery could lead to better heart drugs

The mechanism by which fat-related molecules called lipids regulate pacemaker ion channel proteins, which help control the heart rhythm, has been revealed in a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Powering a pacemaker with a patient's heartbeat

Implantable pacemakers have without doubt altered modern medicine, saving countless lives by regulating heart rhythm. But they have one serious shortcoming: Their batteries last only five to 12 years, at which point they ...

Researchers debut battery-less pacemaker

A wireless, battery-less pacemaker that can be implanted directly into a patient's heart is being introduced by researchers from Rice University and their colleagues at the Texas Heart Institute (THI) at the IEEE's International ...

Staying a heartbeat ahead of hackers

Nearly a million new forms of malware are unleashed on the world every day. Manufacturers of software for smartphones, laptops and security cameras, as well as banks, retailers and government agencies, release upgrades frequently ...

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Artificial pacemaker

A pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the heart's natural pacemaker) is a medical device which uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart. The primary purpose of a pacemaker is to maintain an adequate heart rate, either because the heart's native pacemaker is not fast enough, or there is a block in the heart's electrical conduction system. Modern pacemakers are externally programmable and allow the cardiologist to select the optimum pacing modes for individual patients. Some combine a pacemaker and defibrillator in a single implantable device. Others have multiple electrodes stimulating differing positions within the heart to improve synchronisation of the lower chambers of the heart.

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