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Device Therapy

Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs)
Implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs, are devices implanted in the chest or abdomen that shock the heart back to a normal heart rhythm if you have a dangerously fast beat. These devices continuously monitor your heart rhythm and also serve as pacemakers for slower than normal heart rates.

Fletcher Allen: Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator
Illustration courtesy of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute as a part of the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

ICDs have two main parts:

  • Leads (thin flexible wires) which are attached to the heart to monitor the heart’s electrical activity.
  • A generator, about half the size of a deck of cards, supplies the battery power and “brains” for the device. The generator stores information about any abnormal heart rhythms you have and keeps track of how often it needs to shock the heart.

What to Expect
To implant the device, our heart rhythm specialists will make a small incision in your upper chest area under the collarbone to insert the generator. Wires are threaded through the blood vessels and connected to your heart – with the other ends connected to the generator. The procedure is usually done under local anesthesia. Patients typically spend one night in the hospital. 

Learn more about ICDs and the procedure in the Fletcher Allen Heart Health Library.
 

Pacemakers
A pacemaker is a small electrical device implanted under your skin which helps your heart beat in a normal rhythm.  It is used to prevent a dangerously slow heart rate.

Fletcher Allen: Cross Section of Chest with Pacemaker
Illustration courtesy of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute as a part of the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Setting the Pace  
A pacemaker works by sending electrical impulses to the heart to help it pump properly.

It has two parts:

  • A small battery-powered generator
  • One to three wires (called leads)

The wires are connected to the generator, which sends electrical impulses through the wires to your heart timed to flow at regular intervals.  

Learn more about Pacemakers and the procedure in the Fletcher Allen Heart Health Library.
 

Biventricular Pacing or Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)
This advanced therapy uses a special type of pacemaker to treat heart failure patients whose ventricles, or lower chambers of the heart, are not contracting properly.

Coordinating Pumping of Ventricles
It involves implanting a CRT pacing device (also called a biventricular pacemaker) – a battery-powered device that resets the timing of the two bottom heart chambers. Wires or leads are attached to the right and left ventricles. The pacemaker sends electrical impulses through the wires to keep the right and left ventricles pumping together.