The History of Defibrillation

1. Article 3: Cardiaclife.net THE HISTORY OF DEFIBRILLATION Defibrillation is a process in which the life threatening conditions of cardiac arrest is treated via electric shock. The process involves the application of an electric pulse to the heart to cause depolarization of the cardiac muscles and then re-establishing normal conduction of its electrical impulses. The electronic device used to deliver this therapeutic shock to the heart is called defibrillator. History of defibrillation We all know that electricity was discovered in the mid 1700s, and in 1791 Galvani came up with a perception that muscle contraction could be induced with electrical current, but it was not associated with the heart at that time. Electrical current was only used to make sure that someone was really dead. But in 1850, Karl Ludwig applied current directly to a dog’s heart and it quivered. Then, after a series of studies and hypothesis, Defibrillation was first presented in 1899 by Prevost and Batelli - two physiologists from University of Geneva, Switzerland. They observed in animal studies that when small electric shocks were delivered to the heart, ventricular fibrillation could be triggered, while if large electrical charges are applied, fibrillation could be reversed. In the year 1947, for the first time, this method was used on a human. Professor of surgery at Case Western Reserve University, Claude Beck, treated a 14 year old boy undergoing a surgery for a chest defect. He applied electrical alternating current (AC) and managed to restore a normal sinus rhythm in the boy’s heart. The early forms of defibrillation units had major drawbacks such as for its application open-heart surgery was needed, and the transformers were large and difficult to transport. Also, post-mortem examination of this technique showed that it was damaging the heart muscles. Furthermore, the technique was often unsuccessful in reversing ventricular fibrillation. An alternative method of delivering an electric shock to the heart was developed in the 1950s by V. Eskin and his colleague A. Klimov from the USSR. He found a way to apply a charge of over 1000 volts through nodes applied to the outside of the chest cage, rather than the paddle electrodes which were used in open heart surgery. It was in the year 1959 that a way of delivering the charge using resistance to create a less strong sinusoidal wave was developed by Bernard Lown and an engineer Barouh Berkovits. This wave would last 5 milliseconds using paddle electrodes. The optimal timing regarding when shocks should be delivered was also pioneered by the researchers, which also enabled application of the technique in cases of arrhythmias such as arterial flutter, arterial fibrillation and a form of tachycardia. Prof. Frank Pantridge in Belfast introduced portable defibrillators in the early 1960s. They were also lighter to transport. The basis of Modern forms of defibrillation devices is the BTE waveform in conjunction with automatic transthoracic impedance measurement. Today, these tools form an essential part of the equipment found in an ambulance and para medical tools. To know about Heartsine Samaritan Pad, visit CardiacLife.net. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Davey Higgs is a veteran doctor and an extremely respected name in the medical world who also loves writing various articles and blogs, helping people understand cardiac problems better. He recommends CardiacLife.net as one of the most trusted names when it comes to Philips AED, Philips Headstart and other similar products needed to maintain cardiac health.