Pacemaker life

Went to a private medical facility for a lecture. I was not sure what to expect but it was organised by our local science club. It turned out to be all about pacemakers !! Wow what luck. The lecturer was very knowledgeable. He had worked for various companies involved in design and manufacture of pacemakers. He told me that one company was going to manufacture pacemakers that lasted 19 years but never put it on the market once they worked out the looses they would make on replacement business. Pity.

2 Comments

Hmmmmm - interesting reasoning

by donr - 2014-01-04 03:01:07

I was told by one knowlegable person that the capability existed to put out a PM w/ a lifespan of 50 yrs, using a Plutonium power source. Such power sources are used on spacecraft that have extremely long missions. Radiation would NOT be a problem because Plutonium is an Alpha Particle emitter & they will not penetrate the case walls.

Three reasons why it is NOT practical to put out such a device:

1) Disposal on the death of host. Due to Plutonium the PM is hazardous waste & would have to be collected from the deceased for proper disposal.

2) PM technology is changing/improving so rapidly that There would never be a routine opportunity to upgrade host's PM's w/ newer models/technology. Especially true since a 50 yr lifespan would far exceed the expected life of the hosts post - implant. Consider the periodic decisions for one who rec'd such a PM at age 20 - how much advance in technology would be necessary to justify the surgery based solely on such issues.

3) PM would have life expectancy exceeding that of leads, causing surgeries solely for lead replacement.

Don

Medical science is advancing

by Theknotguy - 2014-01-04 07:01:53

Medical science is advancing so rapidly that I wouldn't want a PM that will run 20 years on one battery. Sure the PM can be upgraded with software but I wouldn't want to wait that long to get an upgrade.

One member on this forum suggested reading "Heart" by Dick Cheney. If you can get past the political rhetoric and read the medical information it's absolutely amazing how much heart care has progressed in the last 50 years. And medical science is expanding exponentially even as we speak. So waiting around 20 years to have a pacemaker upgrade means I'd have a model A Ford in my chest while a newbie would have a space shuttle. I don't think I'd like to pass up the new stuff.

I'm embarrassed sometimes because I have the Medtronics pacemaker with the a-fib settings already programmed into it. I've got it while others don't. We're waiting for FDA approval to get the a-fib settings turned on. While I'm waiting I feel sorry for the people with a-fib who have to wait for their battery to die before they can get the latest PM. How many will die because they don't have the settings? A chilling thought that makes me feel very humble. Supposedly, in a worst case scenario, I can get the a-fib settings turned on even without the FDA approval. What about the people who don't have it?

So we need to work with insurance companies, our government representatives, and whoever else will listen so we can have a PM with at battery that will last 20 years and still be able to get it changed out if a newer PM has better effects. All changes should be done without hassle from the insurance companies, our government, or anyone else.

Am I for Obamacare, no. But the medical system we have in the USA is so screwed up it needs to be changed. All I could think about when reading Cheney's book is what was done for him at taxpayer expense while the rest of us poor bastards had to get by with whatever we had. All of us would do a lot better if we had two doctor specialists on call 24 hours a day anytime we had a twinge. I won't go any further as I'll start screaming, yelling, and throwing things.

Anyway, I'd worry less about the 20 year battery and start working to get better medical treatment. Nuff said.

Theknotguy

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Sometimes a device must be tuned a few times before it is right. My cardiologist said it is like fine tuning a car.