Pacemaker Batteries

Battery explosion

by donr - 2018-07-05 07:10:19

The batteries CANNOT be removed w/o the PM being removed.  They are sealed in the can with the electronics.  PM batteries are built to a higher safety standard than the cell phone & other lithium batteries you have read about.  I cannot remember EVER seeing a report on PM batteries explodng or even failing suddenly.  There are millions of PM's out there - if this were a problem it would have surfaced by now and been such big news it surely would have been reported

Donr...

Fake news

by AgentX86 - 2018-07-05 08:40:13

The lithium batteries in pacemakers are primary batteries. That is, they aren't the same thing, at all, as the secondary (rechargeable) lithium batteries that you hear the horror stories about. The cell chemistry is completely different.

Even then, the problems occur at very fast charge or discharge rates or very high temperature. None of these conditions apply to pacemakers.

The applications and batteries are completely different.

Not fake news !!!!

by The real Patch - 2018-07-05 11:21:03

Juanz, I'm guessing you have one of the St. Jude's devices which is under recall for the Lithium Ion batteries. The problem with these devices is that the battery can fail (lose it's power) unexpectedly and your device fail to operate. It will not explode. The FDA recommended patients be advised and decide for themselves whether to replace the device.

The decision whether to replace your device or not is solely yours to make. I will tell you that if you have a home monitor then the battery is monitored daily and your doctor will know of any problems quickly. Don't forget the surgery to replace the device is not without risks as well.

Yes, I have one of the recalled devices implanted

Fake news

by AgentX86 - 2018-07-05 12:48:45

First, the issue was exploding batteries, not battery failures. Second, they are NOT lithium-ion batteries. They are, in fact, primary cells, a completely different chemistry. Us, in this context, any reports of exploding batteries are indeed fake news.

Pacemaker Batteries

by JuanZ - 2018-07-05 13:26:21

Thanks to all of you ,for your comforting comments , great relief for me !!!!

Tks again ,

JuanZ

FDA recall

by The real Patch - 2018-07-05 13:29:12

St. Jude Medical Recalls Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD) and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillators (CRT-D) Due to Premature Battery Depletion – Update

https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/ListofRecalls/ucm581187.htm

pacer replacement

by pogerm1 - 2018-07-05 16:44:21

When they replace the batteries and replace the pacemaker, do they replace with the same kind of pacer?

Fake news

by AgentX86 - 2018-07-06 08:56:08

https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/ListofRecalls/ucm581187.htm

Where does it say anything about explosion?

Pacemaker batteries are Lithium-iodine cells, which have a very high internal resistance (which is used to calculate remaining life). Lithium-Ion cells have a very low internal resistance, which allows them to be charged and discharged quickly.  This high charge/discharge rate means high current which can heat the cells. LiIon "explosions" are really thermal runaway events, heating the cells to the point where the guts burn. This simply isn't possible with the lithium-iodine chemistry used in pacemakers. While pacemaker designers are human, they're not stupid.