Heart pacemakers

Uses of Plutonium. The fissile isotope Pu had its first use in fission weapons, beginning with the Trinity test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, followed soon thereafter by the "Litde Boy" bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Its weapons use was extended as triggers for thermonuclear weapons. This isotope is produced in and consumed as fuel in breeder reactors. The short-Hved isotope Tu has been used in radioisotope electrical generators in unmanned space sateUites, lunar and interplanetary spaceships, heart pacemakers, and (as Tu—Be alloy) neutron sources (23). 

Plutonium-239 is used as the energy source for heart pacemakers and space probes. It decays by alpha emission. 

The demand for electrically operated tools or devices that can be handled independently of stationary power sources led to a variety of different battery systems which are chosen depending on the field of application. In the case of rare usage, e.g., for household electric torches or for long-term applications with low current consumption, such as watches or heart pacemakers, primary cells (zinc-carbon, alkaline-manganese or lithium-iodide cells) are chosen. For many applications such as starter batteries in cars, only rechargeable battery systems, e.g., lead accumulators, are reasonable with regard to costs and the environment. 

As well as the obvious risks, there can be less obvious risks too. Heart pacemakers can be disrupted by strong magnetic fields so this needs to be pointed out to anyone who enters the area in case they are reliant on one. Another risk is for people who have certain metal prosthetics (e.g., hip joints) - you wouldn t want them stuck to the side of the magnet, would you Another example that we have had is with metal breathing apparatus - someone was pulled back to the magnet when wearing it during a fire drill. 

The actual current drain that these batteries can support is low and is limited by the point defect population. However, the cell has a long life and high reliability, making it ideal for medical use in heart pacemakers. 

Lithium is used to manufacture electric storage cells (batteries) that have a long shelf hfe for use in heart pacemakers, cameras, and so forth. 

Directive 90/385/EEC on active implantable medical devices ( AlMDs ) came into force on 1 January 1993 and is mandatory from 1 January 1995. This covers all powered implants or partial implants that are left in the human body, such as a heart pacemaker. 

Whenever you start a car, use a battery-powered device, apply a rust inhibitor to a piece of metal, or use bleach to whiten your clothes, you deal with some aspect of electrochemistry. Electrochemistry is that branch of science that involves the interaction of electrical energy and chemistry. Many of our daily activities use some form of electrochemistry. Just imagine how your life would be in a world without batteries. What immediately comes to mind is the loss of power for our portable electronic devices. While this would certainly be an inconvenience, consider the more critical needs of those with battery-powered wheelchairs, hearing aids, or heart pacemakers. In this chapter, we examine the basic principles of electrochemistry and some of their applications in our lives. 

Esophagus Lung, kidney liver parts Heart pacemaker... 

A. A mercury cell formerly used to power heart pacemakers has the following reaction ... 

Batteries are everywhere in modern societies. They provide the electric current to start our automobiles and to power a host of products such as pocket calculators, digital watches, heart pacemakers, radios, and tape recorders. A battery is an electrochemical cell, a device for interconverting chemical and electrical energy. A battery takes the energy released by a spontaneous chemical reaction and uses it to produce electricity. 

Closely related to the alkaline dry cell is the mercury battery, often used in watches, heart pacemakers, and other devices where a battery of small size is required (Figure 18.10). The anode of the mercury battery is zinc, as in the alkaline dry cell, but the cathode is steel in contact with mercury(II) oxide (HgO) in an alkaline medium of KOH and Zn(OH)2. Zinc is oxidized at the anode, and HgO is reduced at the cathode ... 

Other applications include rotomolded tanks and containers for the storage of corrosive chemicals, such as nitric or hydrochloric acid. Extruded sheets can be thermoformed into various parts, such as battery cases for heart pacemakers.58 ECTFE film is used as release sheet in the fabrication of high-temperature composites for aerospace applications. Braided cable jackets made from monofilament strands are used in military and commercial aircraft as a protective sleeve for cables.59... 

The alpha decay of Plutonium-238 is used as a heat source for localized power generation in space probes and in heart pacemakers from the 1970s. 

This type of cell essentially operates like a simple battery, with many diverse applications, and it is anticipated that such voltaic cells could be charged by the human body to provide a future power source for implanted medical devices such as heart pacemakers. 

While sodium is the major ion species responsible for excitation in nerve cells and skeletal muscle, in the heart pacemaker cells this role is taken by calcium. Calcium also has a prominent role in the excitation of smooth muscle cells. 

Other applications include rotomolded tanks and containers for the storage of corrosive chemicals, such as nitric or hydrochloric acid. Extruded sheets can be thermoformed into various parts, such as battery cases for heart pacemakers... 

Machine interferes electrically with other medical equipment such as a heart pacemaker (electrical)... 

There was still more to come, and not only from the big, well-heeled companies and universities. At the University of Arkansas, Allen Hermann, chairman of the physics department, decided to go for a high Tc mark. Co-inventor of a heart pacemaker battery and a jazz trombone player of some note (stints with Ella Fitzgerald and Lionel Hamp-... 

The advantages of this type of battery are its very low rate of self-discharge and its extremely high reliability. Although it has been used in tens of thousands of cardiac patients over more than a decade, there has not been a single case of failure causing internal injury of any kind. For the very special requirement of heart pacemakers the... 

The lithium-iodine solid-state battery is used exclusively for heart pacemaker. The electrode reactions in this case are very simple, leading to the overall cell reaction ... 

Many uses of platinum depend on its chemical inactivity. For example, some people need to have artificial heart pacemakers implanted into their chests. An artificial pacemaker is a device that makes sure the heart beats in a regular pattern. It usually replaces a body part that performs that function but has been damaged. Artificial pacemakers are usually... 

How many different uses of batteries can you identify Batteries power flashlights, remote controls, calculators, hearing aids, portable CD players, heart pacemakers, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and video cameras, to name a few. Batteries in cars and trucks provide electric energy to start the engine and power the vehicle s many electric lights, sound system, and other accessories, even when the engine is not running. 

Plutonium-238 produced from neutron-irradiated Np-237 is not isotopically pure usually, the material contains > 80 % Pu-238 and < 20 % of heavier Pu isotopes, and in addition a few ppm of Pu-236. While the presence of other Pu isotopes generally does not seriously affect the applicability of Pu-238 as a heat source, its use for medical applications (heart pacemakers etc.) is limited by Pu-236 because of the intense gamma radiation of some of the Pu-236 daughters. Pu-238 which is practically free from Pu-236 can be made by irradiation of Am-241, and alpha decay of the Cm-242 thus produced. There are in principal two ways for producing such materials... 

The energy produced by the decay of plutonium-2 38 is converted into electrical energy in heart pacemakers. The relatively long half-life of the isotope allows the device to be used for 10 years before replacement. 

In addition to the Pu-based heart pacemaker already mentioned, lightweight, portable power packs that use radioactive isotopes as fuel have been developed for other uses. Polonium-210, californium-242, and californium-244 have been used in such generators to power instruments for space vehicles and in polar regions. These generators can operate for years with only a small loss of power. 

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