Re-charging the battery??

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick question ......

I went to my Doc's today, (again), as I am having on-going problems with superficial leads at the PM site. We got talking about battery life and he said that with most pacemakers nowdays, they re-charge the battery from outside the body rather than replace them. (?)

Has any club member experienced this re-charging of battery?
Thanks and best wishes to you all.

Horseride

7 Comments

Boston Scientific

by biker72 - 2011-01-10 05:01:15

There is no way to charge the battery in my Boston Scientific PM. The entire unit is sealed and filled with an inert gas to combat any condensation.

My entire PM will have to be replaced, not just the battery.

What Make PM

by J.B. - 2011-01-10 05:01:55

Please tell us what make pacemaker you have?

I will not try to say what you may have in the U.K. but so far as I know we don't have the capability of recharging pacemaker batteries in the U.S. Not yet anyway although we do see articles from time to time about such pacemakers being underdevelopment.

I think somebody should see what that doctor has flavored his Cool-Aid with.

Not Yet

by agelbert - 2011-01-10 07:01:49

As far as I know, they haven't placed and ICD or PM with a rechargable battery in a human yet. They may be experimenting with animals. ElectricFrank mentioned the other day that the main issue seems to be the danger of explosion from a rechargeable battery.

My medtronic PM (Adapta DR) has a feature to lengthen battery life. It is adaptive. It has a range of sensing for heart capture so it can automatically reduce the amount of energy needed to the absolute minimum for threshold capture. Yes, they can still program this with the thumping at the cardio tech visit. The cardio tech can also adjust the range of threshold values automatically adjustable by the PM.

No way

by ElectricFrank - 2011-01-11 01:01:12

I just did a Google search for rechargeable pacemaker batteries just in case. The only things that came up were some of the rechargeable external pacers from around 1975. I thing we will be seeing rechargeables, but not for a while. Even if someone came up with one there would be a year or two for FDA approval.

frank

Rechargeable Pacemaker Batteries

by Juan - 2011-01-11 09:01:09

From 2 different articles on Google about rechargeable pacemaker batteries.

.....Dr. Elmqvist was able to provide an implantable pulse generator powered by two rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, each delivering 50 microampere/hours. Recharging was accomplished by a 150 kHz current generated by an external 220 volt unit. The current was transmitted by induction from an external flexible coil 25 cm in diameter placed on the skin over the pacemaker, to a coil 50 mm in diameter within the implanted generator. The pacemaker required charging once a week for 12 hours.

The cylindrical unipolar asynchronous implantable generator consisted of the nickel-cadmium batteries, the electronic circuit and the recharging antenna, all encapsulated in epoxy. It was 52.5 mm in diameter, 17.5 mm thick and weighed 64.3 grams. The lead had a braided nylon core surrounded by four flat stainless steel bands insulated by a polyethylene coating. The stimulating electrode was a platinum disc 9 mm in diameter, to be sutured to the epicardium through two small holes. The cathodal stimulating surface area was 63.6 square mm, the anode was a metal ring 10 mm wide on the pacemaker's edge. The ring was not completely circumferential to avoid interruption of the magnetic field created by the charging current.

Dr. Robert Rubio implanted this unit on February 3, 1960 at the CASMU Clinic of Montevideo, Uruguay. The epicardial electrode was sutured to the left ventricular surface and the pulse generator was placed in the abdominal wall. Her early course was of an increased exercise tolerance and the absence of Adams-Stokes seizures. Infection developed in the thoracic incision and she died of sepsis on October 20, 1960, 9 1/2 months after pacemaker implantation.

.....How does a pacemaker get regenarized? Pacemakers do not get regenarized. . .they become paper weights when the battery in them is finished. My company used to make a rechargeable pacemaker. (don' know the I.D. of "My") The patient had to place a "vest" over the pacemaker site for 1 1/2 hours each week while the recharging unit recharged it through his skin. It did not hurt or even tickle the patient. Some of these rechargeable pacemakers have been implanted for over 20 years now. We stopped making them because they were so large and heavy (because of the type of battery - nickel cadmium).

recharable

by sugar - 2011-01-13 04:01:32

That would be good if they could do that - my medtronic can't be recharged and I thought the pm is your battery so the unit must be replaced - no specific battery to replace because they are one and the same - so I think. I also think mine will go down in stages so there is not an emergency replacement - it will last up to 2 months as it goes down. I think that is why we have phone checks every couple of months and then our 6 month in office check. I am 100% and 67% so I think I will need one between 3-5 yrs. I am 14 months out now. I don't like the vest recharging unit talked about here. I can now pretend it isn't there even though I always feel it. I am muscular so maybe that is why I feel it.
Patty

Paperweight

by kermiehiho - 2011-01-15 06:01:19

I like the idea of keeping the pacemaker for a paperweight though...

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