Lithium Pacemaker: A Therapeutic Analysis

Every year, millions of people suffer from heart attacks, one of the leading causes of death in United States. Heart attacks occur when oxygen normally travelling to heart muscle tissue is reduced or completely blocked off. As a preventative measure against heart attacks, it is essential to monitor heart rhythms to ensure healthy blood pressure and adequate supply of blood and oxygen to all vital organs and appendages. There are a wide range of devices that regulate heart rate. One of which is a pacemaker - a biocompatible device surgically implanted close to the heart to facilitate observation and regulation of cardiac rhythms over extended periods of time (National Lung, Heart, and Blood Institute, 2012) Pacemakers conventionally use lithium
They can function normally for up to 7 years on average meaning that patients can expect to undergo a series of several pacemaker replacement surgeries within their lifetime depending on the age in which they receive a pacemaker. These patients are at risk of experiencing complications from surgery that include internal bleeding, hemorrhages, embolisms, infection and death. Unfortunately, as the age of the patient increases to just 65, the percent risk for complications almost doubles from 3.3% to 6.1% . Complications that specifically result in death occur to 1% of patients, which is about 6000 people a year (Nery et al., 2010). However, researchers can potentially develop methods for eliminating the source of complications that arise by modifying the pacemaker’s power source - utilizing energy output from the body to power the device
Pacemakers are implanted under the clavicle - the collarbone - and are primarily composed of a lithium ion battery, a generator, and up to three wires that connect to specific areas of the heart. The wires in a single-chamber pacemaker carry pulses from the generator to the right ventricle. A dual-chamber pacemaker carries pulses to the right atrium. Similarly, right-ventricle and a biventricular pacemakers carry pulses to one of the atria and both ventricles. Normally, the heart contracts in response to sinoatrial (nerves at the top of the heart) transmission of messages to the lower chambers to ultimately determine the rhythm of the heart (Swierzewski,