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Defibrillator: Its Different Forms and Uses

In the field of medicine, a defibrillator plays a very essential role. When heartbeat becomes dangerously fast and chaotic due to ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia, defibrillators deliver an electrical shock to the heart to restore a normal heart rhythm. Using it helps prevent cardiac arrest and cardiac death from happening. Patients with cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, QT syndrome or survivors of sudden cardiac death require defibrillation.

For life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, defibrillation is the definitive treatment. In this treatment, a defibrillator is used to deliver a therapeutic dose of electrical energy to the affected heart. Before the affected heart suffers from sudden cardiac arrest, defibrillation works to restore normal heart rhythms. It depolarizes a critical mass of the heart muscle, ends the arrhythmia, and reestablishes normal sinus rhythm.

Medtronic gets defibrillator lawsuit dismissed - MSN MoneyCentralMedtronic gets defibrillator lawsuit dismissed - MSN MoneyCentral
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Medtronic Inc. said Tuesday a U.S. District Court dismissed with prejudice lawsuits over lead wires to an implantable defibrillator on the grounds that Food and Drug Administration approval protects the makers from lawsuits. In ...

Defibrillators have several forms and sizes. Manual defibrillators or defibrillator paddles are what you see in a clinical setting such as the hospital. They can only be used by trained and skilled healthcare professionals. Automatic external defibrillators or AED can be used by lay people with only less training, which makes it perfect for emergency instances where no healthcare professional is present. ICDs or implantable cardioverter defibrillators are implanted in the patient’s chest.

There are both internal and external manual defibrillators. The clinician diagnoses a cardiac condition through external units that work in conjunction with electrocardiogram readers. After the diagnosis, the clinician then decides on the charge in joules to deliver to the patient’s chest, and sends the shock through pads or paddles. Medical knowledge and experience is needed to perform this treatment, thus they are only generally found in hospitals and some ambulances.

Similar to the external version are manual internal defibrillators. However, for these units, the charge is sent by internal leads in direct contact to the heart. When the heart is experiencing an abnormal rhythm, the leads detect it and deliver the required electrical shock. Typically, you can see these units in operating theatres where the chest is likely to be open.

For emergency cases where no healthcare professional is around, AEDs are available. Automated external defibrillators are based on computer technology to study the heart rhythm and advise whether a shock is necessary. Unlike manual types, AEDs can be used by lay persons with less training. PADs or public access defibrillators are AEDs that can be found in public places including airports, hotels, and shopping centers. There are also some AEDs which are held by trained personnel who will attend incidents.

ICDs or implantable cardio-verter defibrillators are another form. Such units are implantable (patient’s chest), and can perform the same function as pacemaking. ICDs regularly check on the patient’s heart rhythm, and if required, also corrects arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm based on the device’s programming. The pacemaker can be used together with ICDs for events that involve treating complex arrhythmias.

Those are the different types and uses of a defibrillator. But although they are different in shape and size, all of them have a specific goal. That is to convert an unhealthy cardiac rhythm into a more normal rhythm. And whether, it is used by medical professionals or lay men, external or internal, automatic or manual, it helps lessen incidences of cardiac arrest or cardiac death.

Medtronic gets defibrillator lawsuit dismissed - MSN MoneyCentralMedtronic gets defibrillator lawsuit dismissed - MSN MoneyCentral
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Medtronic Inc. said Tuesday a U.S. District Court dismissed with prejudice lawsuits over lead wires to an implantable defibrillator on the grounds that Food and Drug Administration approval protects the makers from lawsuits. In ...

Judge dismisses suits against Medtronic - Minnesota Public RadioJudge dismisses suits against Medtronic - Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. — A federal judge in St. Paul has dismissed patient lawsuits against Fridley-based Medtronic in connection with a recall of the company's Sprint Fidelis defibrillator leads in 2007. The massive recall stemmed from the discovery that ...