Pacemaker artifact

An artifact is an inclusion in some system, made by animals or man. Spider webs, bird nests, beaver dams, houses, books, machines, music, paintings, and language are artifacts. They may or may not be prostheaes, inventions which carry out some critical process essential to a living system. An artificial pacemaker for a human heart is an example of an artifact which can replace a pathological process with a healthy one. Insulin and thyroxine are replacement drugs which are human artifacts. Chemical, mechanical, or electronic artifacts have been constructed which carry out some functions of all levels of living systems. 

Lesh MD, Langberg JJ, Griffin JC, et al.. Pacemaker generator pseudomalfunction an artifact of Holler monitoring, PACE 1991 14 854-857. 

Collectively, a group of spikes is called pacemaker artifact. 

Knowing whether your patient has an artificial pacemaker will help you avoid mistaking a ventricular paced beat for a premature venticular contraction (PVC). If your facility uses a monitoring system that eliminates artifact, make sure the monitor is set up correctly for a patient with a pacemaker. Otherwise, the pacemaker spikes may be eliminated as well. 

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