What is a pacemaker?

When the heartbeat is too slow, because either the heart's natural pacemaker or its wiring system has a malfunction, implantation of a permanent pacemaker is necessary. The permanent pacemaker — a small device that is implanted under the skin — is used to ensure that the heart beats at a normal and appropriate rate. At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, our experts in the treatment of arrhythmias use the latest advancements in pacemaker technology, including single chamber or dual chamber pacemakers, alone or combined with implantable cardioverter defibrillators and biventricular devices, to treat cardiac arrhythmias.

A pacemaker is a small device that helps your heart beat more regularly. It does this with a small electric stimulation that helps control your heartbeat. Your doctor puts the pacemaker under the skin on your chest, just under your collarbone. It’s hooked up to your heart with tiny wires.

You may need a pacemaker to keep your heart contracting and pumping blood adequately. In this way your body gets the blood, oxygen, and food that it needs. Some people just need a pacemaker for a short time (like after a heart attack) and may use a kind that’s outside the skin. The battery unit for this type can be worn on a belt.

With a pacemaker, your heart should pump almost as well as it did before. Today many people with pacemakers lead full, active lives.

A pacemaker is a small, implantable device that can help people whose hearts are weak, beat too slowly, skip beats or beat in a rhythm that is too fast.

A pacemaker is a small, battery-powered device that sends out small electrical impulses to make the heart muscle to contract. The pacemaker itself is a waterproof object about the size of a silver dollar. A pacemaker consists of a pulse generator and battery that create the electrical impulses, and wires (leads) that transmit electricity to the heart.

Pacemakers help your heart beat in a regular rhythm and at a normal speed. They are inserted to treat a heart rate that is too slow, too fast, or irregular.

Pacemakers are typically placed under the skin of the chest. These pacemakers are permanent. But sometimes, pacemakers are needed for only a short time to help a person in the hospital with heart rhythm problems. A temporary pacemaker is not surgically inserted but is worn outside the body. Temporary pacemakers are used only while a person is in the hospital.

A pacemaker is a small, battery-operated device that helps the heart beat in a regular rhythm. It is the treatment of choice for patients with bradycardia (slow heartbeat), but is less commonly used for tachycardia (fast heartbeat). Pacemakers can be permanent (internal) or temporary (external). A pacemaker sends electrical impulses to the heart when needed to aid in the proper pumping of blood.

Pacemakers are composed of two parts: the generator and the leads. The generator stores the battery and regulatory information for the heartbeat. In an internal pacemaker, the generator is typically located beneath the collar bone. The leads are wires that extend from the generator through a large vein to the heart, delivering electrical impulses that tell the heart when to beat.

An artificial pacemaker is a small battery-operated device that is surgically inserted and that helps maintain a normal heartbeat by sending electrical impulses to the heart when the body's natural pacemaker becomes defective due to heart disease.