A Good Pacemaker Book To Read

I can't remember where I heard about this book; it was either NPR or The Economist magazine.

"Machines In Our Hearts" by Kirk Jeffrey, available directly from Johns Hopkins University Press.

It covers the history and development of pacemakers and defibrillators, federal regulation, and the health care industry.

Not as dry as you think. It mentions the competition between brands, all the personalities involved, the technology as it developed, as well as the economics.

An expensive book, but worthwhile.

5 Comments

Pacemakers

by Dixie Chick 65 - 2023-03-01 06:53:03

Wow, people will " collect" anything won't they ?  Another book " Nuts and Bolts of Pacing " by Tom Kenny, is available on Amazon. It is pretty pricey too. I just read the sample and thought it was good, but I didn't order it.

.......... and another one

by IAN MC - 2023-03-01 07:10:49

"  Pacemakers Made Easy "  written by  a  U.K. Cardiac physiologist, Carl Robinson , is an excellent , well-illustrated ,150 page book . I bought it 10 years ago and still refer to it occasionally,

Ian

Next book....

by Persephone - 2023-03-01 10:06:29

So who among us is going to write the "PMs For Dummies" book ? Seems like there'd be a market.

Settings?

by Gotrhythm - 2023-03-03 12:53:19

Do any of these books cover settings? When I got my first pacemaker that's what I didn't know and didn't even know I needed to know. 

As it turned out, my settings were wrong for me, bad wrong, and I floundered for three years before I found an EP who discovered the problem. (PVC-induced PMT.) A chapter that discussed the basics of settings, what they control, and how to have a conversation about them with the pacemaker professionals would have made a huge difference to me.

Everything I knowabout settings today, I learned here at Pacemaker Club, and once I know enough to frame a question, Youtube. Even today I would like to read a full discussion of them written for the lay person.

Manuals

by Penguin - 2023-03-03 14:36:15

Customer orientated manuals in 'easy PM speak' which explain settings would be a great resource. Most seem to be aimed at pacing techs. 

I found that it took years to get my head round the settings on my first PM. With some helpful input from the pacing techs. I probably understood about 1/3rd of them by the time the battery expired. 

A book on settings would have to be regularly updated. I'd prefer to see a website I think.

 

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