Pacemakers

Depending on what condition you have, you might receive one of the following types of pacemaker.
1)Single chamber pacemaker- Usually this type takes electrical impulses into your heart's right ventricle (lower heart chamber). This type of pacemaker consists of one lead that connects the pulse generator to one chamber of your heart.
Based on your symptoms and the type of pacing that you are getting, doctor may attach the output lead to the right atrium (upper heart chamber) to stimulate the pacing in that chamber.
2)Dual chamber pacemaker - Usually this type takes electrical impulses into your heart's both chambers (lower heart chamber and upper heart chamber) to help control the timing of contractions between the two chambers.
Dual chamber pacemaker helps the two chambers work together and contract which allow blood to flow properly from the right atrium into the right ventricle. The chambers relax in the proper rhythm.
3)Biventricular pacemaker - Biventricular pacing is used for patients with heart failure with abnormal electrical systems. This kind of pacemaker is used to improve the heart function by stimulating the right and left ventricles.

Pacemaker is used to help your heart beat more regularly. A pacemaker consists of four parts, the pulse generator, electrodes, leads and battery.

• Pulse generator - A battery and the electric circuitry in the small metal container control the rate of electric pulses transmitted to your heart.
• Leads and electrodes - Each chamber of your heart has one to three flexible insulated wires and offers the electrical pulses to adjust your heart rates. Electrodes at the ends of the leads, to help deliver the signals

Pacemakers only work when necessary. If the heartbeat is too slow, the pacemaker will send electrical signals to your heart to correct the beat.

The arrhythmia team uses pacemakers to sense and correct abnormal heart rhythms. Most commonly there are two types of abnormalities:
1) Bradycardia: If a patient has bradycardia, their heart rate is slower than 60 times a minute.
There are two types of bradycardia, including:

• AV block – Not all heartbeats can travel from the top chamber up to the bottom of the heart in this type of bradycardia. For an AV block, there are various severity levels.
• Sinus node dysfunction – This type of bradycardia occurs when a sinus atrial node (SA) electric signal is slowed or completely gone and the SA node does not generate enough beats. SA nodes is normal pacemaker of heart.

2) Heart block: electric signals that slow or disrupt when moving from the upper to the lower heart chambers.

In addition, newer pacemakers have body motion or respiratory sensors which signal that cardiac speeds are increased during practice, when required.
 

• Medtronic
• Boston scientific
• Biotronic
• Abbott
• Vitatron
• Cordis
• sjm
• livanova
• Guidant
• st jude
• overdrive
• sorin

In India it costs between 1 and 9 lakh for pacemakers, with batteries that last between 7 and 10 years on average.