Double Bass Pacemaker/defibrillator, ICD, yeah, I just got one

[NickMarinelli]

I have a home monitor called Merlin@Home Invalid Link Removed

I have it on my night stand, and sometime during the night it reads the info from the ICD and sends it to my cardiologist's office.

 

[nachodaddy]

I'm a biomedical engineering professor in my real life and have 35 years experience dealing with cardiovascular implantable devices. If I can be of help, feel free to PM me or ask a question here. I'll answer what I can.

Thanx, JM. Do you think I'm OK with the hundreds of speakers in the house? And, after my experience with the wheelchair guy, should I have had my device checked?

 

[jmlee]

The problems that pacemaker wearers have with electromagnetic (EM) devices generally revolves around the sensing capability of the pacer. To save batteries and to encourage normal cardiac function, pacemakers will often sense the electrical activity of the heart, only intervening when normal physiological pacing doesn't occur. The sensing is done by the electrode(s) at the end of the lead(s) in the heart itself. If the electrode senses an external EM field, it may misinterpret this signal as cardiac activity and fail to fire. It doesn't hurt the pacemaker, but the wearer can end up not getting the pacing they need due to false cues. The classical culprit is an EM-leaky microwave oven, but strong electromagnets can cause similar problems: e.g. the motor in the wheelchair, and even speaker magnets. The good news is that the EM field falls away rapidly as you move away from the device. If you don't hold a speaker close up to your chest while it's firing, the speakers shouldn't pose much problem. My guess is that the 100s you have aren't all on at the same time and you're not holding them close.

 

[sound of bass]

Thanx for chimin' in, SOB.ROFL. I see my last post here miraculously got duplicated while I was responding to another thread. Weird. Yep, gettin' a bracelet or dog tags(maybe both) is definitely on my agenda.
They had to pop me once with the defibrilator while I was in ER, piror to the ICD implant. Wow! That brought backs two old deja vus. Once knocked across the room back in early 70's by a 59 Bassman. In late 70's, I lived in an old farmhouse in Waco,Ga(affectionately called, wacko, of course). It had the old screw-in type breakers. I got knocked across the room three times changin' out fuses while living there. The defib felt exactly like that. I am NOT lookin' forward to this thing goin' off. I hope I avoid that, needless to say.

Yes, they pack quite a wallop! Ive seen it a hundred times, and although Ive never felt it, its better than the alternative of dying....and not being able to play bass,lol. Best of Luck Bro!.

 

[KStewart]

Drum roll, please...

And the name of the club shall be....

Cyborg Club.

KS, are ye claimin' member #1? If not, I will.

You should be #1. It's your club. I've just been unfortunate enough to be on my 3rd pacer.

My first AICD went off (malfunctioned is the proper term).... it felt like I was hit in the chest twice with a sledge hammer swung by Hulk Hogan. SUCKS!

 

[shwashwa]

You should be #1. It's your club. I've just been unfortunate enough to be on my 3rd pacer.

My first AICD went off (malfunctioned is the proper term).... it felt like I was hit in the chest twice with a sledge hammer swung by Hulk Hogan. SUCKS!

what caused it to go off? just curious? inappropriate labeling of an svt as a vt? t-wave oversensing? lead fracture? you dont have to say if you dont want

 

[KStewart]

what caused it to go off? just curious? inappropriate labeling of an svt as a vt? t-wave oversensing? lead fracture? you dont have to say if you dont want

The 'technicians' told me that maybe one of the nurses had the settings wrong. How comforting to know that my mental well-being (not worrying about it going off again constantly) and physical health were in the hands of some (possibly, under-qualified) nurses.

A few weeks later I was being told that my first AICD needed to be replaced because of 'low battery'. Still makes me frustrated to even write about it. But, as to what I was doing immediately prior to it 'treating' me is very personal and private, and only myself and my pacer team needs to know. And, it shouldn't have triggered the device to go off.