External pacemakers are nothing new, in fact the idea stems from initial experiments performed by Paul Zoll in 1952 with pairs of metal electrodes secured to the chest wall to stimulate cardiac muscle. However patients undergoing this kind of treatment often experience skin burns or pain from unwanted skeletal muscle contraction. The SPacemaker not only applies the instrument to a new environment, but introduces novel technology to cut discomfort. In our design, an electromagnet around the body (made with alternating current) makes an additional curl of electric field which acts as a “switch” to the heart’s contraction, just pushing the net electric field over the threshold. Pain is lessened since the area of current conduction is reduced.
External pacemakers are nothing new, in fact the idea stems from initial experiments performed by Paul Zoll in 1952 with pairs of metal electrodes secured to the chest wall to stimulate cardiac muscle. However patients undergoing this kind of treatment often experience skin burns or pain from unwanted skeletal muscle contraction. The SPacemaker not only applies the instrument to a new environment, but introduces novel technology to cut discomfort. In our design, an electromagnet around the body (made with alternating current) makes an additional curl of electric field which acts as a “switch” to the heart’s contraction, just pushing the net electric field over the threshold. Pain is lessened since the area of current conduction is reduced.
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