A large number of patients suffering from cardiac arrest may benefit from the application of therapeutic electrical pulses such as pacing pulses and defibrillating pulses. Pacing pulses are applied to pace a patient's heartbeat, whereas defibrillating pulses are applied to halt fibrillation of the heart. The strength and duration of pacing pulses is quite different from the strength and duration of defibrillating pulses. Typically, defibrillating pulses apply a current of 20 to 50 amperes to the patient for a single duration of 10 to 40 milliseconds. Pacing pulses, in contrast, apply a much lower current (in the range of 40 to 140 milliamperes) as a series of pulses over a much longer duration. Current pacing/defibrillation units require two separate and independent electrode pairs: one for defibrillation and one for pacing.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds