Defibrillator

An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a small device that's placed in your chest or abdomen. This device uses electrical pulses or shocks to help control life-threatening, irregular heartbeats, especially those that could lead the heart to suddenly stop beating (sudden cardiac arrest). If the heart stops beating, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. This usually causes death if it's not treated in minutes.

Defibrillator Types

Several types of defibrillators are used to deliver electric currents to the heart muscles and correct abnormal and life threatening heart rhyt

Modelling Defibrillation

What is a Defibrillator?

How to use a Defibrillator

Survival chances found to be significantly better for sports-related cardiac arrest

Most cases of cardiac arrest during sport are likely to be preventable. In addition, the emergency response with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillators within the sports context can be improved.

19 Nov 2024

Benefits of sport and leisure activities outweigh the risks for people with heart disease, cardiologists say

While exercise is generally beneficial for a person's overall health, physical activities may increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular disease events in certain susceptible individuals. However, cardiologists say that the benefits outweigh the risks.

19 Nov 2024

Ablation may offer better outcomes than medication for ventricular tachycardia

Ablation, a procedure to treat abnormal electrical short circuits caused by a heart attack and is usually reserved for patients who do not improve with medication, may be a better first-line treatment for heart attack survivors experiencing dangerous rapid heartbeat episodes, according to late-breaking science presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2024.

18 Nov 2024

Updated recommendations stress importance of CPR for drowning victims

Updated guidance reaffirms the recommendation for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and highlights the importance of compressions with rescue breaths as a first step in responding to cardiac arrest following drowning, according to a new, focused update to Special Circumstances Guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

12 Nov 2024

A father's journey from emergency response to a career at NYU Langone Health

The scream that Jonathan Negron heard on a commercial airline flight five years ago ultimately signaled his pathway to a career with NYU Langone Health, one inspired by the quick diagnosis of his daughter's exceedingly rare condition.

12 Nov 2024

Quick defibrillator shocks critical for cardiac arrest survival

It is well known that acting quickly in the event of a cardiac arrest is important, but what does a quick initial shock with a defibrillator mean exactly for patients' chances of survival? Researchers from Amsterdam UMC analyzed the data of 3723 patients who had a cardiac arrest outside the hospital and concluded that for the first shock, every minute reduces the chance of survival by 6%.

28 Oct 2024

New defibrillation strategy could enhance survival rates in cardiac arrest

Joshua Lupton, M.D., has no memory of his own cardiac arrest in 2016. He only knows that first responders resuscitated his heart with a shock from a defibrillator, ultimately leading to his complete recovery and putting him among fewer than one in 10 people nationwide who survive cardiac arrest outside of a hospital.

23 Sep 2024

Self-assembling heart stimulator can correct heart arrhythmia in emergency situations

By injecting a solution of nanoparticles around the heart, a temporary heart stimulator self-assembles, which can correct heart arrhythmia in emergency situations with the help of an external power source.

27 Aug 2024

Rescue from above: How drones may narrow emergency response times

The drones are coming. Starting in September, if someone in Clemmons, North Carolina, calls 911 to report a cardiac arrest, the first responder on the scene may be a drone carrying an automated external defibrillator, or AED.

22 Jul 2024

Energy drink intake linked to sudden cardiac events in patients with heart genetic disorders

Associations between energy drink consumption and the risk of cardiac events among patients with genetic heart diseases.

10 Jun 2024

New clinical guideline released for effectively managing individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) today released a new clinical guideline for effectively managing individuals diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

8 May 2024

Younger adults with atrial fibrillation face higher rates of heart failure and stroke

The risk factor (RF) burden, clinical outcomes, and long-term survival among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) under 65 years of age.

24 Apr 2024

Preventive ventricular tachycardia ablation cuts down ICD shocks and hospitalizations

The first randomized trial to investigate preventive ablation of a potential arrhythmogenic substrate associated with coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) in patients at high risk of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) reduces the risk of appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy and unplanned hospitalization in patients with no previously recorded VAs.

8 Apr 2024

New cryoablation technique eliminates ventricular tachycardia in 94% of patients

A new technology using ultralow temperature cryoablation (ULTC) has eliminated clinical ventricular tachycardia (VT) in 94% of patients. The late-breaking science is presented at EHRA 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

8 Apr 2024

Public defibrillators rarely used during cardiac arrest incidents, research shows

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are a common resource in public buildings, yet a new analysis reveals that they are rarely used to help resuscitate people suffering cardiac arrest.

28 Mar 2024

AI tool predicts lethal heart rhythm with 80% accuracy

In a Leicester study that looked at whether artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to predict whether a person was at risk of a lethal heart rhythm, an AI tool correctly identified the condition 80 per cent of the time.

28 Mar 2024

Gender differences explored: Cardiovascular health variances in women's lifespan

Women's cardiovascular disease risks and outcomes differ throughout the lifespan from those of men, according to a collection of studies devoted to cardiovascular medicine research focused on women of all ages, published today in a special "spotlight" issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

27 Feb 2024

Drones can save lives by delivering defibrillators in cardiac arrest cases

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have evaluated the possibility of alerting drones equipped with automated external defibrillators (AED) to patients with suspected cardiac arrest.

22 Nov 2023

PROFID EHRA trial aims to personalize the prevention of sudden cardiac death after myocardial infarction

The first clinical trial to challenge the routine implantation of a defibrillator in myocardial infarction survivors with heart failure has enrolled its first patient.

21 Nov 2023

Experimental wireless pacemaker harvests energy from heart to recharge battery

By converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, an experimental wireless, or leadless, pacemaker housing is able to partially recharge its battery, according to a proof-of-principle study to be presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2023.

6 Nov 2023

Defibrillator

Overview

Modelling Defibrillation

What is a Defibrillator?

How to use a Defibrillator

Latest Defibrillator News and Research

Survival chances found to be significantly better for sports-related cardiac arrest

Benefits of sport and leisure activities outweigh the risks for people with heart disease, cardiologists say

Ablation may offer better outcomes than medication for ventricular tachycardia

Updated recommendations stress importance of CPR for drowning victims

A father's journey from emergency response to a career at NYU Langone Health

Quick defibrillator shocks critical for cardiac arrest survival

New defibrillation strategy could enhance survival rates in cardiac arrest

Self-assembling heart stimulator can correct heart arrhythmia in emergency situations

Rescue from above: How drones may narrow emergency response times

Energy drink intake linked to sudden cardiac events in patients with heart genetic disorders

New clinical guideline released for effectively managing individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Younger adults with atrial fibrillation face higher rates of heart failure and stroke

Preventive ventricular tachycardia ablation cuts down ICD shocks and hospitalizations

New cryoablation technique eliminates ventricular tachycardia in 94% of patients

Public defibrillators rarely used during cardiac arrest incidents, research shows

AI tool predicts lethal heart rhythm with 80% accuracy

Gender differences explored: Cardiovascular health variances in women's lifespan

Drones can save lives by delivering defibrillators in cardiac arrest cases

PROFID EHRA trial aims to personalize the prevention of sudden cardiac death after myocardial infarction

Experimental wireless pacemaker harvests energy from heart to recharge battery

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

Exploring the Future of Neuroscience Drug Discovery

Genomic conservation in Thailand's mangroves

Defibrillator

Overview

Latest Defibrillator News and Research

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

Exploring the Future of Neuroscience Drug Discovery

Genomic conservation in Thailand's mangroves

Newsletters you may be interested in