Of course no one can deny that technology nowadays is very important for us in all fields. and in this blog I will talk about the technology in the medical field. and especially the device called ICD or Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator. So at the beginning we have to know what is this device and how can it work?
1- ICD helps to stop dangerous fast rhythms in the ventricles (heart's lower chamber).
2- ICD used to treat a sudden cardiac arrest and to restore it to a normal heartbeat.
3- Implementation of the defibrillator involves a positioning leads (thin – isolated wires) in the heart and it placed beneath the skin usually in the shoulder area.
4- ICD is a small device that treats abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias.
5- This arrhythmia results from a problem in the heart's electrical system.
6- Electrical signals follow a certain pathway through the heart and these movements make your heart to contract.
7- During the fast arrhythmia, too many signals are moving in the heart.
8- These many signals often don’t travel in its pathway, so the heart will not pump enough blood out to the body and the patient may pass out and die because of a sudden cardiac arrest.
9- ICD is an implanted device that monitors the heart's electrical rhythms in order to detect the and treat a dangerous fast rhythms VT and VF.
10- VT and VF are fast abnormal heart rhythms coming from the pumping chambers (the ventricle). And there are many causes of the VT and VF but many of them because of the restriction of the blood supply.
How does it work?
The ICD consists of a ‘pulse generator’ and one or more leads. The pulse generator contains a battery, a capacitor and a clever electronic ‘brain’. The pulse generator is usually implanted just below the collar bone, usually on the left but occasionally on the right. The lead or leads pass inside the large veins of the chest to the heart. The leads detect the heart’s electrical rhythm and transmit that information back to the pulse generator. The leads also deliver treatment from the pulse generator to the heart.
Written by Mohammed Hussein
