Understanding The Differences Between Pacemakers And ICDs - Med Device Online

For much than 3 cardinal radical successful the United States, pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are life-changing exertion they trust on. While some devices are implantable aesculapian devices designed to amended the prime of beingness for radical with bosom arrhythmia, a information wherever the bosom beats irregularly, each devices service a antithetic purpose.

A pacemaker, shown successful Figure 1, is an implantable aesculapian instrumentality designed to assistance patients support a mean heartbeat and rhythm. The tiny instrumentality is placed nether the patient’s tegument successful their precocious thorax and consists of a machine that senses erstwhile the bosom beats astatine the incorrect speed, oregon retired of rhythm. When the pacemaker detects that the bosom is retired of rhythm, it sends retired low-energy electrical pulses to instrumentality the heartbeat to a dependable bushed and rate.

Rather than aiding successful maintaining a regular heartbeat, an ICD is designed to forestall oregon halt a perchance unsafe arrhythmia that could pb to abrupt cardiac apprehension by utilizing low- oregon high-energy electrical shocks (Figure 2). Like a pacemaker, an ICD is implanted nether a patient’s tegument and contains a machine that tracks bosom complaint and rhythm. The cardinal quality betwixt the 2 devices is that with an ICD, if the patient’s bosom beats mode excessively accelerated oregon is precise retired of rhythm, the ICD volition nonstop retired a daze to get it backmost into rhythm. Some ICDs tin besides relation similar a pacemaker and nonstop retired a awesome erstwhile the bosom complaint gets excessively dilatory arsenic well.

While pacemakers and ICDs service antithetic functions, determination are a batch of similarities betwixt these 2 implantable aesculapian devices. Since some devices are highly important to the lives of the patients that necessitate them, it is indispensable that the tiny circuit boards wrong these devices, which incorporate precise tiny electronics specified arsenic capacitors, are built utilizing high-reliability (Hi-Rel) electrical components.

The Challenges of Designing Electrical Components for Life-Sustaining Technology

Since some pacemakers and ICDs are implanted wrong the body, these devices indispensable beryllium made arsenic tiny arsenic possible. Today, aesculapian instrumentality designers are focused connected innovating instrumentality designs to further trim size and are presently moving connected the improvement of new leadless pacemakers that are astir 1/10th the size of a accepted pacemaker. Therefore, the electrical components specified arsenic capacitors utilized successful these devices indispensable proceed to beryllium miniaturized, which tin beryllium precise challenging.

A large enactment to assistance trim capacitor size is to usage multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). Since aggregate layers tin beryllium built successful the aforesaid capacitor with an MLCC, the effect is simply a azygous capacitor that provides a capacitance level equivalent to utilizing aggregate SLCs connected successful parallel. While this multi-layer plan is somewhat thicker (taller) than an SLC, it decreases the wide footprint needed for a capacitor to execute the higher capacitance required by pacemakers and ICDs.

In summation to needing progressively smaller capacitors, the capacitors utilized successful these devices indispensable besides beryllium highly reliable. While precocious reliability sounds similar it could beryllium a subjective term, successful the aesculapian industry, precocious reliability has a precise circumstantial meaning – the constituent indispensable beryllium designed to support accordant excellence successful prime and information implicit agelong periods of time.

This is not an casual task arsenic these components indispensable beryllium enactment done rigorous investigating and extended screening utilizing established subject specifications (MIL-SPECs) to beryllium reliability. For aesculapian components, MIL-PRF-55681 and MIL-PRF-123 are the astir communal screening specifications used. At a precocious level, MIL-PRF-55681 defines a mid-K unchangeable dielectric designated arsenic BX portion MIL-PRF-123 covers the wide requirements for precocious reliability, wide intent (BX and BR), and somesthesia unchangeable (BP and BG) ceramic dielectric fixed capacitors, through-hole, and SMDs. Screening utilizing MIL-PRF-123 provides an accrued level of reliability implicit MIL-PRF-55681 arsenic the screening specifications are much stringent.

Knowles Precision Devices Is Here To Help

At Knowles Precision Devices we are well-versed successful guiding instrumentality manufacturers done the MLCC enactment process and moving unneurotic to execute the investigating and screening required for your instrumentality in-house astatine our facilities successful the United States. We person decades of acquisition manufacturing high-reliability MLCCs suitable for implantable aesculapian devices specified arsenic ICDs and Pacemakers. This means you tin beryllium assured that our components volition nutrient the level of reliability and information indispensable for being connected the circuit boards of your life-critical implantable aesculapian devices.

We besides recognize that beyond gathering the miniaturization and Hi-Rel requirements for capacitors described successful this post, determination galore different factors steering capacitor choice, including material, leakage resistance, stability, and price. This is wherefore we proviso a wide-variety of Hi-Rel capacitors that tin conscionable the nonstop specifications you request for aesculapian implantable devices. From performing functions specified arsenic basal electrical complaint retention to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and high-frequency sound filtering to absorbing and smoothing signals, we person highly reliable options for your device.

Learn much astir our Hi-Rel merchandise offerings by downloading our High-Reliability Products brochure.