Posted in Awareness, Defibrillator, Implants: ICD/VAD/Pacemaker, Product warning • Tags: earphones, headphones, ICDs, implant, iPod, pacemakers
The good news is iPods and most MP3 players do not have an effect on your implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association 2008 Scientific Sessions. The bad news is, their head phones or ear phones do. And where would your music player be without the head phones?
All speakers big and small contain magnets. Magnets are necessary to make vibrations and the sound that we can hear. However, anybody with a heart implant knows very well that magnets can cause interference with a pacemaker or defibrillator.
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Posted on November 24, 2008 by Raquel Billiones • There are no comments, hop to it!
Posted in Cardiovascular Sciences, Implants: ICD/VAD/Pacemaker, heart transplant, surgery • Tags: Carmat, total artificial heart
What do rocket science and cardiology have in common? The quest for a total artificial heart. That’s how the Carmat heart was developed.
The French biomed company Carmat announced that they might just be 3 years away from completing the quest. Although the company is based in France, the project is actually a pan-European venture partly funded by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS). And it combines, of all things, tissue engineering and missile science to come up with a very promising heart prototype. The group is led by a star in cardiology, the renowned heart surgeon and inventor Dr Alain Carpentier of the Pierre & Marie Curie University, Paris, France. More →
Posted on November 11, 2008 by Raquel Billiones • There are no comments, hop to it!
Posted in Cardiovascular Sciences, Children, Implants: ICD/VAD/Pacemaker, heart transplant • Tags: Children, heart transplant, VAD, ventricular assist device
A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a mechanical device that helps a failing heart to function. The pump-like device can be for short term use only, such as those for patients recovering from heart surgery or those waiting for a heart donor, or they can be for long term use such as those for patients suffering from congestive heart failure or cardiomyopathy. The longest record of a surviving cardiac patient on VAD is 7 years, as reported by the Texas Heart Institute last year. VADs have saved many lives of patients whose hearts are not longer capable of efficiently pumping on their own. VADs are especially used in patients waiting for heart transplantation.
Unfortunately, most VADs are adult-sized and are only suitable to assist adult-sized hearts. But what about those little baby hearts that need help?
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Posted on October 21, 2008 by Raquel Billiones • There are no comments, hop to it!
Raquel Billiones has a PhD in Biology and has over 15 years experience as a researcher, scientific English teacher, and medical writer. Since 2006, she has been a freelance WAHM specializing in medical writing and scientific documentation. 
