The heart’s natural pacemaker is responsible for regulating the heart’s beats at a certain pace. However, if sometimes the natural pacemaker fails in doing so. That is where artificial pacemakers step in to fulfil the role of the heart’s natural pacemaker.

For more severe cases, technology has made it possible to combine a defibrillator into the electronic heart pacemaker unit. Modern medical and technological advances have also allowed pacemakers to be programmed externally by a specialist.

Pacemaker experiments have been going on for over a hundred years, however the real breakthrough was in 1958. It was during this year that the first implantable pacemaker was used, although it was a far cry from the pacemakers of today. The patient who used the first-ever implantable pacemaker used 22 of them throughout his lifetime.

Surgery is required to implant the pacemaker, although it is generally a straightforward procedure. In most cases, a local anesthetic is given and an incision is made below the left collar bone, where the pacemaker is inserted and the electrode wires are attached to the heart using a fluoroscope. Afterward, the doctor usually prescribes antibiotics as a precaution against infection as a result of the surgery.

People who use an artificial heart pacemaker are required to have occasional checkups to make sure that everything is working correctly and to see if any adjustments may be required.