Q: Characterize The Different Types of Pacemaker. Explain The Various Steps of Pacing
Q: Characterize The Different Types of Pacemaker. Explain The Various Steps of Pacing
Explain the
various steps of pacing?
Pacemaker is define as a medical device which uses electrical impulses,
delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating
of the heart.
There are three basic types of permanent pacemakers, classified according to the
number of chambers involved and their basic operating mechanism:
The patient may want to consider some basic preparation before the
surgery. The most basic preparation is that people who have body hair on
the chest may want to remove the hair by shaving or using a depilatory
agent as the surgery will involve bandages and monitoring equipment to
be affixed to the body.
Since a pacemaker uses batteries, the device itself will need replacement
as the batteries lose power. Device replacement is usually a simpler
procedure than the original insertion as it does not normally require leads
to be implanted.
The typical replacement requires a surgery in which an incision is made
to remove the existing device, the leads are removed from the existing
device, the leads are attached to the new device, and the new device is
inserted into the patient's body replacing the previous device.
Thus the following steps are taken into consideration while pacing a
pacemaker.
Working of a pacemaker:
The conduction system includes several components.
The first part of the conduction system is the sinoatrial (SA) node,
located in the myocardium at the top of the right atrium.
Without any neural stimulation, the sinoatrial node rhythmically
initiates electrical impulses 70 to 80 times per minute.
Because it establishes the basic rhythm of the heartbeat, it is called
the heart's natural pacemaker.
Each electrical impulse from the SA node travels through the muscle
fibers of the atria and ventricles, causing them to contract.
Other parts of the conduction system include the atrioventricular (AV)
node, atrioventricular bundle, bundle branches, and conduction
myofibers.
All these components coordinate the contraction and relaxation of the
heart chambers. Although the SA node sends electrical impulses at a
certain rate, your heart rate may still change depending on physical
demands, stress, or hormonal factors.
Basic function
The most basic form monitors the heart's native electrical rhythm.
When the pacemaker fails to sense a heartbeat within a normal beat-to-
beat time period, it will stimulate the ventricle of the heart with a short
low voltage pulse.
This sensing and stimulating activity continues on a beat by beat basis.