(c) 2011 David Prutchi
Intermedics’ next-generation pacing platform would have been full of neat features such as: hemodynamic sensing (impedance-based hemodynamic sensor), autocapture (capture verification), autothreshold (self-tuning based on automatic strength-duration curve generation), high-quality digital telemetry, large-volume memory for electrogram storage, non-volatile memory for self-recovery and patient information, advanced noise detection, etc. My favorite feature though was “Patient Alert”. That saddle-shaped electrode in the picture was used to stimulate the patient’s pectoral muscles whenever the pacemaker wanted to alert the patient of a problem (e.g. low battery, fractured lead, etc.). The project was canceled when Guidant (now Boston Scientific) purchased Intermedics in 1998.