How Do I Check Sensitivity Threshold With a Pacemaker?

Doctors insert pacemakers within patients in order to control their heartbeats. Irregular heartbeat can result from a birth defect, an accident or even a heart attack, which can lead to many problems such as shortness of breath and fatigue. Pacemakers provide an ideal solution to this predicament. The sensitivity of a pacemaker stipulates the capability of the device to determine the heart's own working capacity and to provide assistance as required. Thus medical professionals need to check the sensitivity threshold of a temporary pacemaker regularly.

Instructions

• 1

  Record the patient's natural heartbeat rate. Repeat this many times over and take the average of the readings that you get in order to maintain accuracy. Recording the most accurate value of the patient's heartbeat plays a vital role in the entire process, because otherwise the pacemaker will not be able to regulate the patient's heartbeat.

• 2

  Set the rate of the pacemaker at a value 10 beats less than patient's heartbeat. Bring the mA to the lowest value possible. The mA is the amount of voltage delivered to the muscle, measurable in milli-amperes. Make sure that the mA has been reduced to its lowest value before moving to the next step.

• 3

  Twist the sensitivity knob dial in a counterclockwise fashion in order to set the sensitivity level at a higher value. Keep turning the knob until the sensing light indicator stops flashing. The sensing light indicator starts to flash when it is in sensing mode. However, by setting the sensitivity dial at at a higher value, the pacemaker's sensitivity towards detecting the patient's heartbeat goes down.

• 4

  Twist the sensitivity dial in a clockwise fashion, decreasing the numeric value. Keep twisting in a clockwise fashion until the sensing light indicator starts flashing again. The value at which the sensing indicator starts to flash is known as the sensitivity threshold. Note this value and then set the sensitivity dial at a value which is half of the sensitivity threshold value. For example, if you established the sensitivity threshold value as 6, then you need to set the sensitivity dial at a value of 3 mV (milli-volts).